


Your Eyes Close as I Fall Asleep

by GrudgeDemon (diedraechin)



Series: Tie Your Heart to Mine [1]
Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Future Fic, Romance, Romantic Drama, long fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:27:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 81,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8315650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diedraechin/pseuds/GrudgeDemon
Summary: The year before Tsuruga Ren disappeared and Hizuri Kuon would step up to take his place was proving to be one of the hardest of Kuon’s life.  It wasn’t going all that great for Kyoko either.  Long distances, stalkers, accidents, a jealous ex, parents and a crumbling facade plague our favorite Skip Beat couple.Set three years after the current time in the manga.  (Kyoko is twenty, Ren is twenty-four)





	1. The Break

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Lemony lemons even in chapter one. (I'll put a warning on any chapter that contains lemon -- it definitely won't be all of the chapters though. I cannot write that much smut.)

 

> _...I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.  
> _ _I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;  
> _ _so I love you because I know no other way_
> 
>   _than this: where I does not exist, nor you,  
> _ _so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,  
> _ _so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.  
> _ _-Sonnet XVII, Pablo Neruda_

 

Chapter One:  The Break

 

Ren paused in the hallway and looked around the corner through the open sliding door.  Director Shingai was talking to an actor who was looking quite impatient.

“If the actress is late, then find another one!”

Shingai bowed.  “She is not late.  She is never late,” he paused but continued when the actor opened his mouth.  “She is not here because I changed the costume at the last minute and sent her with a stylist to try a different kimono.  I changed the color scheme.”

The actor huffed.  “This is why I hate working with new talent.  She should have tried on the kimono days ago.”  He walked off.

Ren coughed lightly and Shingai looked over at him.  “Ren! Please, come in.”

Ren walked through the door and bowed.  “Director Shingai.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was working on a shoot on the other side of the property and took a walk.”

“So you like snooping around to see what else is being shot?”

Ren nodded.  “I suppose.  It’s always interesting to see other people’s work ethic.”

“Ah, yes.”  Shingai sighed.  “He’s a good actor, fits well in these traditional pieces, but doesn’t know the actress I hired since she hasn’t done much in this particular area.”

“Well, I can understand where he is coming from.  She should have had the costume check days ago.”

Shingai held up his hands and shook them. “Ah, no, it isn’t like that at all.”

The stylist came into the room and bowed.  “Will you take a look, director?”

“Excuse me, Ren.  Why don’t you sit and watch a bit?”  Shingai motioned to a chair behind his.  “I’ve been waiting for the perfect role for this actress since I first met her.”

When Shingai had left, Ren took the proffered seat.

“She’s perfect.”  Shingai came back and sat down.  “We’re ready, Togo-san.”

The huffy actor took his place on the tatami mats in front of them.   Ren finally recognized him.  He was usually cast in melodramas about love and duty in traditional Japan.  He didn’t really enjoy them and tended to pass on most of the sort of scripts he received.

They were Shingai’s bread and butter though.

The actor took his place.  From the room layout it looked like they were going to be filming a tea ceremony scene.  

One of the gaffers was readjusting the lights.  The camera was moved out the door that Ren had come through to focus instead on the opposite door that led into the room from the outside.

“Action!”

The tabi socks gracefully stepped over the edge of the mat and the woman slid down onto her knees in a shin bow.  “Please excuse my rudeness.”  She stood and came further in the room before kneeling again next to the tea implements.

Her movements were totally graceful and seemed very familiar to Ren as they watched her make the tea.  She turned the cup in her hands before setting it before Togo-san.

The cup was sent flying, dangerously close to the actress’s face.  Ren almost stood up, but Shingai touched his arm.

“Do it again.”

The actress bowed, her black hair falling down covering her face from the camera.  “Of course.”

The motions were repeated.

When Togo brought the cup to his lips again, he exploded in rage, striking the woman and she collapsed on the tatami mat, her hand pressed to her face as Togo stormed out of the room.  There was a long silence and then the soft sound of her crying.

Ren gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in.  He knew that cry.  He looked at the woman lying on the tatami mats and then back at his hands. They were white knuckled.

“Cut.”

Togo-san came back in the room to check on his co-star.

“She’s gotten so much better since I first saw her, back when she was battling Ruriko-chan for us.”  Shingai was looking at the monitor.  “Look at this.”

Ren turned his head to look at the monitor as well.  Because of where they had been sitting, they hadn’t been able to watch Kyoko’s face.  Because there was no doubt about it. This was definitely Kyoko.  

“She didn’t even flinch even though that cup went much closer to her than was intended.”  Shingai hummed in thought.  “Oh, that’s wonderful, such a great expression, but…”

“Togo-san, Kyoko-chan, I want to do the scene again.  Togo-san, the camera picked up your shock when you threw the cup closer to Kyoko then you actually meant to. I need you to maintain that mask of anger.  Your character doesn’t care if the cup hits her.”  He turned to look at his actress, who had returned to kneeling.  “Kyoko-chan, you did exactly what I wanted, but now I want more.  At the end, when you look up after Togo leaves, I want you to keep the pain and fear, but I want you to add some loathing right on the end.”  He paused.  “Do you need to walk around for a minute before doing the tea ceremony again?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I’m fine, I can continue.”  Her eyes locked with Ren’s for a brief moment before she returned to her starting position.

“And…. Action!”

Ren sat through the entire second take gripping his armrests tightly and flinched when the cup flew past Kyoko’s face, just as close this time as the first.  Just a centimeter or two more and it would have hit her.  Instead of watching the rest, Ren directed his gaze so that it was just above the action.

“Cut.  Let me look at the playback, and if it’s good we’ll move down the hall and film the bedroom scene.”  Shingai was quiet for a moment.  “Ah, just what I wanted.  Perfect.  OK, let’s set up over there.”  He turned to Ren.  “Do you want to stay?”

It was as if a cold vise had clamped around his heart.  He shook his head.  “Ah, no.  My break is almost over and I need to get into costume myself.”  He looked at the still frame on the monitors of Kyoko’s last face.  A single tear was rolling down one cheek as she pressed her palm to the other where she had been “hit”.  The vise tightened.   The look in her eyes was exactly what the director had asked for.  “But I can tell this will be a wonderful drama.”

*~*~*

Ren was moody as he sat on his couch that night, glass in hand.  The cold that had infiltrated never left even though he’d left the set and gone back to his own.  He was hoping the whisky would warm him.  

He didn’t look up when the door opened, just stared at his glass.  He watched as delicate fingers wrapped around the glass, pressing against his own as they did so.  They were soft as they took his drink away and set it on the nearby table.

“I thought we promised that we would try and stay away from each other’s sets.”

His voice was dull when he answered.  “I didn’t know it was the set you were working on.  You never mentioned that you were working with Director Shingai again.”

Kyoko’s fingers brushed a lock of hair away from his face and he looked up.  She was smiling a gentle smile at him.  “What’s wrong?  Did your shoot not go well?”

“It went fine.”  He lifted his hand up and cupped her face.  “I can’t get the image of that cup flying at you out of my mind.  Or when he ‘hit’ you.  I barely managed to stay in my seat.”

Her eyes softened and she leaned down, pressing her lips against his forehead.  “It’s probably best that you left then.  The scene we filmed afterward was worse in a lot of ways.”

Ren pressed his forehead against her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist.  The cold had finally started dissipating.  “What is this film about, anyway?”

“It’s about a proper young woman who was raised very traditionally and was married off to a rich friend of her father’s who was looking for a second wife.  Her husband is cruel and abusive and eventually she runs away, selling her jewelry and finding a job in a shop.  One day a customer comes in, he’s completely smitten with her and keeps coming back.  They fall in love.”  Kyoko’s voice had gotten extra dreamy, but it hardened again.  “But it turns out that the man she falls in love with is actually her step-son.  The two have an illicit affair anyway, and when her husband finds her and takes her back, she drowns herself.  Her lover ends up taking his own life as well.  And eventually the husband dies old, lonely and bitter having lost two wives and his only son.”  She sighed.  “The first part is rather like a fairy tale.  Then it all goes wrong.”

He tugged her waist until she sat on one of his knees.  “I’ll have to make sure that I stay away from that side of the property if you’ll be shooting over there then.”

“Ah, well, we’ll only be there for the rest of the week to get all the scenes being filmed there. Then we’re moving to a regular studio set at Fuji. Besides, aren’t you done in a day or two anyway?”

He nodded and pressed his lips to the nape of her neck.  “Are you staying?”

She hummed and tilted her neck to the side.  Ren took advantage and kissed his way to her ear.  

“I can’t.  I have an early start tomorrow.  Getting into those kimonos takes forever.”  She reached up so that she could wrap her hand around the back of his head.  “But you seemed upset, so I wanted to check on you.”

Ren toyed with the idea of leaving a kiss mark on the back of her neck, but stopped himself.  It would make the makeup artist’s job even harder since the time it took to get a girl into costume and makeup for a Yamato Nadeshiko role always took longer.  He sighed and leaned back.

“Something wrong?”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and spread his fingers wide over her stomach.  “I want to feel your warmth.”

She turned as far as she could so she could kiss him.  It was slow yet deep, and he just kissed her back, running his hand up her side.  “I can stay for a little while,” she whispered against his lips.

“Please.”

She shifted so she could better kiss him, and he pulled her hair out of the small bun she’d had it in at the nape of her neck.  She’d grown out her hair just a bit in the last couple of years.  Ren appreciated the extra length as he ran his fingers through it and deepened the kiss, sucking on her bottom lip before just lightly tugging on it with his teeth.

Kyoko’s fingers were already on the buttons of his shirt, undoing them one by one.  He tugged the blouse she was wearing out of the skir, sliding his hand under it and up her side until he could cup her breast and slide his thumb across her nipple over her bra.  Kyoko’s breath caught and he smiled against her lips.

She gently nipped his bottom lip.

He groaned and broke the kiss, moving instead to kiss her ear and the tender flesh just behind it.  “I want to slide into you right now.”

Kyoko’s head tipped back on a moan.  “What’s stopping you?”

His hands were only a little clumsy as he pushed the tighter-than-normal skirt up to her hips and she moved off him just long enough to slip her underwear off.  He spared a glance for the bit of black lace near his feet before undoing the clasp of his pants and pushing them down just enough.

Kyoko was back to kissing him as she sunk down onto him with a small gasp, and he only just caught the sound over his own moan.

“Missed me?”

Her voice was breathy as she started moving on him.  His hands were on her hips and ass, helping her move.

“Yes.”

She laughed as she slowed down, taking him in as far as she could.  

He needed to put his mouth on her.  He changed gears and brought his fingers to the buttons of the blouse, undoing them as quickly as possible.  When her top was open, he pressed his face against her chest and kissed the exposed curve of her breast.  

Kyoko rocked her hips and started to move again as he undid the clasp of her bra.  He ran his tongue over her nipple, eliciting a small moan, before he sucked her nipple into his mouth and the small moan got louder.

“Kyoko.”  He pressed up with his hips.  Her rhythm was just a bit too slow, and he knew that she knew it too.  “Damnit, Kyoko.”

She took a deep breath and cupped his face with her hands.  He stopped what he was doing so she could capture his lips with hers.  She moved her hands down to his shoulders and started riding him harder and faster.  He groaned.

Kyoko arched her back as she held on to his shoulders and moved hard on him.  He stared.  She was so goddamn beautiful like this.  His breath quickened as Kyoko’s movements got more shallow but faster.  He could feel the tension building in his balls and grunted as he came.

Kyoko kept moving for a minute more, her tongue darting out and licking her bottom lip as she tightened around him and came as well.  She pressed her forehead to his, breathing heavy.  Eventually she slid off of him to the side and leaned back into the cushions next to him.

He looked over at her.  She definitely looked like she’d enjoyed herself.  He smiled.

She smiled back and reached out to brush his hair out of his eyes before shifting to pull her skirt down.  

“Did you come from an interview?”

Kyoko nodded.  “The drama special I was filming a couple of months ago is about to air.”  She pulled her legs up onto the couch and curled into his side.  “Do you feel better?”

“Now that I have something else to focus on when I close my eyes that isn’t you getting tea cups hurled at your head, yes.”  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.  “This is what my curiosity gets me.”

Kyoko smiled.  “Are you working on that detective drama?”

It was Ren’s turn to nod.  “We were doing the ryokan scenes and the place works for that.”

“It does.”  Kyoko looked down and started doing up the buttons of her blouse, but Ren stilled her hands with one of his own.

“Don’t go yet.”

Kyoko’s smile was bittersweet.  “Didn’t we agree--”

Ren sighed.  “Yes, but--”

She put a finger over his lips.  “If I recall, this was even your idea.”  She tilted her head to the side.  Some of the acting mannerisms that she’d used over the years had wormed their way into her day to day life as she got more comfortable with the sides of herself that liked to tease.  “Or did you forget?”

He shook his head.  “No.”  He ran his thumb along her cheek.  “I didn’t.  I just miss you.”

She turned her head to kiss his thumb.  “One more month.  We can do it.”

He pressed his forehead against hers.

*~*~*

Ren reached out.  Kyoko’s side of the bed was cold.  As always of late.  He rolled onto his side and sighed.  One more month, though this was going to be the hardest month.  Most of it he’d be spending on location out of the country.

He swung his legs off the bed and stretched.  Today he had a meeting with the producer for the back half of the movie production.  They’d taken a break while they waited for the seasons to change.  The visuals were important, so they had to wait until it was Sakura season.  First they had some scenes to shoot here in Japan, and then the production would move over to another location before finally finishing in an L.A. studio.

But before anything else was to be done today, he had an appointment with Miss Woods.

So out of bed and to the bathroom.  He purposely avoided looking at the small set of beauty products that had been relegated to a small corner of the counter Kyoko would use when she stayed over.  He grabbed his contacts case and shoved it into his pocket.

Coffee, and then he’d go.

*~*~*

“So you were finishing up a drama shoot before you had all of this to do?”

Ren nodded.  “I shouldn’t be needed on the set any longer.”  He sighed.  “It’ll be fairly problematic if I am, actually.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re going to be you, are you?”  Miss Woods spun him in the chair toward the mirror.  “Though I don’t know if I’ve forgiven you for not telling me your real name until all this nonsense started.”

Ren smiled.  “I’m sorry, Miss Woods.”

She twisted a lock of his blond hair around her finger.  “Nonsense.  Darling had his reasons as did you.  You’re still Ren-chan.  Though I really am put out that I didn’t realise you are your mother’s son.  I mean, this hair.”  She gave a slight tug and then dropped the lock.  “I think you’re done.”

He stood and bowed.  “Thanks.”

*~*~*

When he left Miss Woods’ room he was no longer Ren, but Kuon.  He fell easily into the relaxed gait he’d used most of his life before becoming Ren.  He ran a hand through his hair and pushed the sleeves of his white button-down shirt up to his elbows.  

He hailed a taxi and gave the address of the temporary production offices.  He also had easily fallen back into his American-accented Japanese.

He couldn’t differentiate which one was the act anymore: Tsuruga Ren or Hizuri Kuon.

He walked down the hall and into the production offices.  A handful of the cast were gathered there already, since it was their first real day back to work.

“Kuon!”  A pretty brunette ran up to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  “I was hoping that you’d be here.  You said that you couldn’t go out last night, so I wasn’t even sure that you’d gotten to Tokyo yet.”

He bent down and kissed her cheek in return.  “Ah, yeah.  I was here but pretty exhausted.  Where did you guys end up?”

The other male lead sighed.  “The hotel bar.  Seriously.  You didn’t miss out at all.”

Kuon chuckled.  “That’s something at least.”

The director and producer came out into the small lobby and the director clapped his hands a couple of times.  “Okay.  So here’s the deal.  We need to get some further costume fittings done, then we need to run some chemistry tests with Kuon and Taylor.”

“The local girls for the yakuza link?”

The director nodded.  “I’ve put in a call to one of the agencies here, LME, to see if they had any actresses that could work on the film and that maybe speak English.  So we’ll see, but just in case,” he looked at Kuon, “how’s your Japanese?  I know your dad still speaks it.”

“And he made me learn it.  I’m pretty fluent actually, as long as you’re not asking me to read it, and even then, I could probably get by.”  It was better for him, at the moment, to be vague.

“Great, so can I rely on you?”

Kuon nodded.

*~*~*

It was strange, being in Fuji Studios as anyone else other than Tsuruga Ren.  Kuon stretched his arms over his head and yawned.  That was definitely something he couldn’t have gotten away with as Ren.  Taylor elbowed him and he turned his head.  “What?”

“Those girls over there are staring.”  He smiled at them.  “They’re cute, right?”

Kuon shrugged.  “I guess.”  Neither of them was Kyoko, so he really didn’t care.  “When are these tests supposed to start?”

“The director said that we were just waiting for the girls to show up.”  Taylor looked around.  “I feel like a giant.”

Kuon snorted.  “It’s not that bad.”  From the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he’d seen Kyoko turning a corner, and he turned his head to look.

“Ok, they’re here, but only one of them speaks English, so we might need your help depending on her proficiency, Kuon.”

Kuon stood and turned to face the director that had walked out of an office.  The two actors followed him to one of the studios.  It was pretty much just a blank set without any dressing and a couple of cameras set up.  The Japanese crew were bustling around, trying to get things set up for the chemistry tests.

Kuon heard some familiar voices.  No.  The president didn’t.  What was he thinking?  Walking onto the set in their pink overalls were three members of the Love Me department.

“What in god’s name are they wearing?!”

Kuon just shook his head.  He honestly didn’t know what else he could do.  Kyoko was purposely not looking at him and was instead talking to Kanae.  Chiori was looking around and grumbling at the other two girls.  Kanae was just glaring.

“This is not what I was hoping for when they said they’d be hiring some local actresses.  I mean the tall one is hot, but the other two...”

Kuon closed his eyes so he wouldn’t glare at his co-star.  “Don’t be like that.”

“They’re wearing pink overalls.  Pepto Bismol-pink overalls.”

It’d been a while since Kuon had seen that uniform.  He thought Kyoko was looking particularly cute, actually.  She caught his eye and frowned before looking elsewhere.  She didn’t look pleased to be here though.

“The one with the brown hair doesn’t seem to like us, though.  She keeps glaring this way.”

Kuon shrugged.  “Maybe she had something better to do?”  Like actual drama work.  Kuon wondered how this was going to impact the filming schedule of the drama he’d seen her in a few days ago.  He knew that Kanae was also working on a drama, but couldn’t remember if Kyoko had mentioned anything about Chiori.

“So let’s go introduce you.”  The two men followed the director over.  He bowed awkwardly and Kuon could see Chiori roll her eyes.  “So, hello, again.”

The three girls all bowed at the same time and said hello in Japanese.

Taylor gave a little bow and tried his hand at saying hello in Japanese.  It wasn’t half bad, but then it was only one word.  

Then it was his turn.  He didn’t bother with English at all.  He gave a proper bow.  “Hello.  I am Hizuri Kuon.  This is James Taylor, and I believe that you’ve already met the director.  Please to make your acquaintance.  I hope that you will take care of us.”

Chiori was the first to introduce herself.  “Amamiya Chiori.  Thank god you speak Japanese.  Not half bad either.”

“Kotonami Kanae.”

“Kyoko.”

Kuon related the information to his co-star.

“Cool.  Does anyone speak English at all?”

Kyoko spoke up in English.  “Some, however, Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san do not.”

The director clapped.  “Well it seems like we won’t have too much of a language barrier thanks to Kuon and Kyoko.”

“Kyoko-san.”  Kuon corrected him.

“What?”

“-san.  Director.  Kyoko-san.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right!”  Some music started blaring over the speakers and the group flinched before it was quickly turned off, then back on at a lower level.  They were trying to get the volume adjusted.  After a minute, it turned off altogether.

The director asked Kuon to give the girls a little rundown of the plot of the movie they were doing.  The gist of the whole thing was that Kuon and Taylor were playing some college hackers who were trying to stop some crazy global conspiracy. Some clue led them to Tokyo where they had a run-in with the girls and then the yakuza while trying to acquire a flash drive, before going to Europe and then eventually back to the States, where they defeated the conspiracy and some stuff blew up.

“And they say that Japanese film is stupid?  What the hell?” Chiori snarked.

Kuon bit his lip.

“Ah, she says it sounds really interesting.”  Kyoko said in English for the rest of the group.

“I bet you didn’t even tell them what I actually said, senpai.”

“If she did you’d be kicked off the set in a minute.”  Kanae smiled broadly.  “We just have to smile and pretend we find it all fascinating.  And as long as no one pisses off Kyoko, she’ll just tell them what they want to hear.”

Kuon coughed and she looked over at him and her eyes widened.  Apparently she’d already forgotten that he spoke Japanese.  “They’re really looking forward to the work.”  He said.

Kyoko leaned over and whispered in Kanae’s ear, and her face returned to the cool, blank look he was used to.

*~*~*

“We’re supposed to find them interesting because they are foreign.”  Kyoko was translating what the director was saying.  And she was doing it very liberally.  Kuon admitted that the whole “fascinated by the ‘good-looking’ foreigners’” thing was a bit trite.  “So, yes, I guess he wants us to hit on them or something and just improv the scene.”

Kuon smiled. He couldn’t help himself.  Kyoko sounded so disgruntled about the whole thing.  He wondered what the president had blackmailed her with to get her on this assignment.  Actually, what had he used against all the girls, for that matter.

“Everything good, Kuon?”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  Should we take our places?”

The director motioned to the “bar” and the two men went over.  From the side of his eye he watched as the girls all gathered over by the “entrance” and started whispering amongst themselves.  It was too low for him to actually hear.

“What are they saying?”

He shook his head.  “No clue.”  Though he probably would have said the same thing even if he did know what they were saying.

The music came on and he watched as Kanae and Chiori started dancing.  Kyoko walked past them and toward the bar, but not toward them.

“Interesting.”  Taylor sidled over to where Kyoko was and started talking to her.  “Hey.”

She glanced over with a blank expression before turning it into a smile.  Kuon hadn’t seen that look since she’d acted as Natsu in _Box “R”_.  “Hey, yourself.” She turned back to the bar.

Kuon forced his attention away from what the two were doing and looked back toward the other two girls, smiling at them.  Kanae returned his smile with a flirtatious look and Chiori looked away.  She was probably going for a more shy reaction.

He pushed off the bar and headed over to them.  “A drink?” he said in Japanese.

Kanae nodded and grabbed Chiori’s wrist, and the three went back to the bar.  Chiori leaned up against the bar and popped one leg up at the knee. “An umeshu sawa!”  She smiled at the guy they had asked to stand there.

Kanae played it much cooler.  “Highball.”

He leaned over.  “I like your taste.”

She smiled.

He couldn’t resist any longer and looked up to see how Taylor was faring with Kyoko.  His eyes reflexively narrowed.  She was definitely flirting with him and he seemed to be eating it up.  Kuon forced himself to smile, looked back at the two other girls, and continued the scene.

*~*~*

“OK, good.  This works.  I actually like the dynamic of having all three of you.”

Kyoko sighed.  She’d purposely tried to balls it up by not dancing with the other two girls, even if she didn’t really know how to dance anyway.  None of them were really the type to hit up the clubs.  “He likes the way the three of us played it.  It sounds like he’s going to keep all of us.”

“Sorry, Kyoko-chan.”

Kanae leaned in.  “I think he would have kept you anyway because you’re the one who speaks English.”

She nodded.  “This messes up my entire shooting schedule.”

Chiori looked angry and then worried.  “Did Togo-san really threaten to walk off the shoot?”

Kyoko nodded.  “Director Shingai was trying to talk him out of it when I left.  He’s the more established actor and has the right to be upset by this.”  She took a deep breath.  “What was that man thinking when he assigned me this nonsense?”  She turned back to the group and switched to English.  “I’m sorry, I was just explaining that you thought it was good with the three of us.  Was I mistaken in that you insinuated you would like to keep all three of us?”

The director nodded.  “That’s right.  I think it’ll work well if you work with Taylor here, Kyoko-san, since you can converse in English so the English dialogue won’t be a problem.  Then we’ll have the other two work with Kuon.  Does that work?”

She nodded.  “Just what is the shooting schedule?”

The director gave a little shrug.  “We’re trying to get some permits so we’re not entirely sure yet.”

Kyoko smiled at him.  She saw Kuon looking at her curiously from the corner of her eye.

*~*~*

“The one who speaks Japanese keeps looking at you, Kyoko-chan.”

Kyoko looked over.  Kuon was looking at her again.  She narrowed her eyes at him and turned away.

Kanae stifled a laugh.  “The poor guy looks so confused.  You should at least maybe not freeze him with one of your evil glares, he won’t know what hit him.  Besides, he can’t possibly know that you’re already seeing anyone.”

Chiori nodded.  “It’s not like your relationship is public knowledge.  I mean I only know because I caught the two of you dozing off on the couch in the Love Me department and using each other as pillows.”  She paused.  “Hey, something just occured to me… his last name.”

Kanae nodded. “It’s Hizuri… Do you think?”  They both looked at Kyoko.  “Was it mentioned if he was related to Kuu?”

Kyoko shook her head.

“You should find out.”

“Why?”

They both looked at her like she was an idiot.  “He could be Kuu’s son.  That would be awesome to get to work with him.”

Kyoko sighed.  “It’s not like he’s Kuu.”

“What you really want to say is that it’s not like he’s Tsuruga-kun.”  Chiori smiled.

*~*~*

Halfway through lunch, Kyoko gave in.  There were only so many ways that they could circle the conversation back to if Kuon was Kuu’s son, and Kanae and Chiori had already gone through them all twice.  She put down her chopsticks and walked over to where the two actors were sitting.  She bowed.  “Excuse me, Hizuri-san?”  She spoke in English since it’d be considered rude not to in front of the other one.

Kuon dropped his chopsticks and turned to look at her.  He seemed flustered, but that couldn’t be the case.  “Hizuri-san?”

He shook his head.  “Kuon, you can just call me Kuon.”

She nodded once.  “Kuon-san--”

“No, really, just call me Kuon.”

Her eyes narrowed for a split second.  Why was he trying to be this familiar with her on set?  “I could never, Kuon-san.  If you don’t mind, my colleagues and I have an impertinent question for you.”

The one named Taylor chuckled.  “This could be interesting.”

Kuon looked over at his co-star before turning back to Kyoko.  “What is it?”

“They… well, we… wanted to know if you are related to Kuu?”

He nodded.  “He’s my father.”

Kyoko paused for a brief moment.  She should react.  She gave him a wide smile.  “That is amazing, to be related to such a famous actor and one who is Japanese.  No wonder you speak Japanese so well.”  She definitely didn’t want to bring up Kuon’s life growing up as his parents’ child since there were all sorts of issues involved with that, even though his parents were both the most loving parents that she’d ever met.

Not that she knew about loving parents.

She bowed and excused herself.  Her glower came back as soon as she turned around.

“Is he not?!”  Chiori was looking at her curiously.

“Oh, no, he really is.  I was just thinking about some things.”  She stopped and looked over at the clock.  If they finished now, she could call Director Shingai and find out what was happening with her drama before she had to be at her next job.

“Argh.  Are they going to keep us here all day for no reason?  I have a commercial to shoot.” Kanae growled.

“And I have a read through for the next drama I’m working on this afternoon.  I wanted to go through it one more time.”

Kyoko was glad for the change in conversation.  “You’re the lead actress this time, aren’t you?”

Chiori nodded.  “Well, mostly.  It’s not a single lead drama at all, since it’s about a group of college friends.”

Kyoko nodded.

Kanae leaned over.  “Kyoko.  I’ve been trying to ask, and I’ve been failing, but what’s going on with you and Tsuruga-kun?  You’ve been changing the topic whenever one of us brings him up, like earlier.”

Kyoko looked up from her half-eaten bento.  “A stealth attack!  That’s so mean!”

“This time it’s deflection.” Chiori supplied helpfully.

“I noticed.”

She sighed.  At least right now they only had a few minutes so they couldn’t really get too much information out of her.

“We are sort of… well…”  She tried to figure out how to phrase it. She sighed.  “We’re taking a break.”

The two girls just looked at her.  “You broke up?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “We got into a fight about… well, about a lot of things a couple of months ago and well, we decided to just take a break.”  Not that it was working out.  They kept finding reasons to see each other.

“Is it about that role that he took overseas?”

That was definitely one of the things that they fought about.  Kyoko just nodded and frowned.  They’d also fought about whether they should take their relationship public.  Actually, that had been the first thing.  This movie job had wormed its way into the argument as well.  And then it had turned into a fight about all the little things which annoyed each other.  From the way actresses kept falling in love with him on all his jobs, to how oblivious she was to all the male attention she was getting both from co-stars and fans.  She still didn’t know what he was talking about.  Her frown deepened and her brows knitted.

“Kyoooooooo-ko-chan…”

She looked up and smiled.  “Moko-san!”

“She completely forgot we were here.”  Chiori sounded relieved.

Kyoko tilted her head to the side.  “I didn’t.  I was just lost in thought.  Can we not talk about Ren anymore?”

The two girls nodded at her.

*~*~*

Kuon sighed and unlocked his apartment door.  It was late.  He was a little drunk.  And he still needed to pack.  He had to check into his hotel tomorrow afternoon, since it just wouldn’t do for him to be going in and out of his apartment when he was supposed to be out of the country.

He tossed his hat onto a nearby table and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  He shouldn’t have gone out with the cast, but they’d insisted since he missed the impromptu cast party the night before.  He leaned back against the door and started taking off his shoes.  It was then that he saw it.  Kyoko’s bag.

He practically tripped over the shoes he barely managed to get off as he sort of stumbled to the bedroom.  She had to be there.  

He slowly opened the bedroom door.  She was curled up on the bed with her face hidden in a pillow.  It looked like she was sleeping.  He walked over to the bed and sat down near her.  “Kyoko?”

The pillow shifted and one of her honey colored eyes became visible.  It was a bit red and puffy.  She’d been crying.

“Did you lose the drama job?”  He’d caught the jist of what was going on from the snatches of conversation he’d heard from the girls over the course of the day.

She shook her head and sat up, but she didn’t turn to look at him.  “I didn’t mean to be here when you got back.  I forgot a commercial script that I needed for tomorrow from that time a couple of weeks ago.”

He nodded.  Technically they were on a break.  No phone calls.  They weren’t casually speaking or seeing each other outside of this apartment.  They weren’t supposed to be seeing each other at all, but…

He leaned in to wrap his arms around her and hold her close but she stood up.  “I really shouldn’t have stayed.  It’s worse seeing you like this.”

He sighed, frustrated.  He raked his fingers through his hair.  “Kyoko.  I want to stop this.”

“I know, but we agreed.  After you are done filming this movie, we’d start up again.  We needed a break from each other.”

“That hasn’t worked out, has it?”  It really hadn’t.  They’d still seen each other at least once a week when he was in Japan, even if most of the time they were preoccupied with things that weren’t talking.

She lifted one slender shoulder in a shrug.  “But we really haven’t talked much.”

“And it’s driving me insane.  Do you know that I’ve had Yashiro keep tabs on you for the last two and a half months?”

She nodded.  “It’s very obvious.  ‘Kyoko-chaaaan! We haven’t talked in daaaays! How’s your drama shoot going?  Is the male lead still making advances daily?’ It’s only after he gets the answer to a question or two like that that he actually starts conversing with me like a regular person.  Can you please stop putting him up to that?”

Kuon rubbed the back of his neck  “I haven’t asked him to ask about your male co-stars in over a month.”

She hummed and turned to look at him.  “There is one positive about this.”

He shook his head.  There were none.  None.

She nodded.  “Maybe not for you, but for me.  I’ve had to face every acting challenge on my own.  I decided that if I couldn’t ask you, I wouldn’t even ask Moko-san either.  I’m a better actress for it.”  She scrunched up her face and glowered.  “And that’s a good thing.”

“The interview the other night?”

She nodded.  “Kijima-san was… being Kijima-san at a party the other night, and I was questioned about if we were seeing each other again.”

“Won’t he ever give up?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “He gives up every time he starts seeing someone, but he did just break up with his girlfriend and then he realised that we weren’t speaking…”  She sighed.  “I should go.  I was just upset because this drama shoot is all kinds of messed up now, and I’m stuck acting a bit part in your stupid movie and…” She huffed.  “I was this close.  This close to actually being able to stand just a step or two behind you, instead of down twenty flights of stairs.”

“Is that why you’ve been working so hard since we put things on pause?”

She turned to look at him.  “Three months isn’t a long time, but yes, I tried to book in as much as I could.  I even did a spin on the variety show circuit, as a guest this time.  I thought…” She sighed again.  “I thought that if I could increase my name recognition even a little, then I wouldn’t seem like such a mismatch with you and...  Then Director Shingai asked if I wanted the part in his new drama and everyone is talking about it.  I think I’ve been asked more about that than the one that’s about to start airing.  It could be huge for my career.”

“And then,”  Kuon made a sound like an explosion.

“Yes.  The return of the awful pink overalls and my drama shooting schedule shot to hell.”

Kuon sighed.  It really wasn’t like the president to blow up a project like this.  And the president liked Shingai and Kyoko.  He shook his head.  “Stay and I’ll make tea.”

Kyoko smiled.  “Now there’s all the more reason not to.  You need to pack and then sleep off the whisky.  You may be doing a good job of not acting drunk, but your eyes lie.  They’re glazed.”

He collapsed face down into a pillow and she dumped another on top of his head.

“It was hard to sit up for that long, wasn’t it?”  Her voice sounded like she wanted to laugh.

He nodded.  “The room may have been spinning a little, but I was worried.”

She leaned down and kissed his neck where it was exposed.  “Well, thank you.  I needed to get some of that off my chest.  I really should go, though.”

He grabbed her wrist.  “You know I’m sorry.”

“About the fight?”

He nodded.  

“Didn’t we apologize months ago?”

“Yes, but my apology didn’t net the outcome that I wanted, so I thought I’d try again.”

Kyoko hummed in thought.  “I think… it was impossible to go back to how things were.  And it was impossible to move forward with where things were.”  She moved the pillow aside and stroked his hair.  “So really, regardless of what outcome either of us wanted, I think that this one was acceptable.”

He rolled over and looked up at her.  “Only with adjustments.”

She smiled down at him.  “Well, yes, now that I think about it, absolutely zero contact does seem rather harsh.”

“Harsh?  I thought I would die that first week.”

“You over-exaggerate.”

“I can act a wonderful death scene, thank you.”

She smiled the smile he’d missed so much and leaned in to kiss him.  He slid his fingers into her hair before she could pull away and deepened the kiss.  Just give him this one moment.  With Kyoko.

She sighed into the kiss and parted her lips for him.  He didn’t hesitate, pushing his tongue past her lips and into her mouth.  He teased and coaxed and felt Kyoko relax a little more.  He sucked on her bottom lip, tugging lightly with his teeth before breaking the kiss to look into her eyes.

If he asked now, he knew she’d agree to stay.  He was opening his mouth to do just that when he heard her cell go off.  She turned her face away, and he sighed.  She quickly moved to grab it off the side table where she must have laid it down.

“Hello?”

“Shingai-san!... Ah, yes.”  She sighed.  “Really?”  The conversation was not going well.  “I see... You did? The president?... If you think it’ll help, of course…. No, I don’t think so… I haven’t heard anything, the director seems rather… Ah, yes, he doesn’t care about inconveniencing the extras, since that’s what we are… I’m sure he does, but the only one who can understand the president’s plots is himself… All right.... Yes, of course, I’ll be there.  Bye.”

“Good news or bad?”

“A mixed bag.”  She stood back up.  “I really have to go now, though.”  She pressed her lips to his forehead.  “I guess I’ll see you at the shoot, though.”

“Yeah.”

He watched her walk out of the bedroom and then out of the apartment.

He should have said that he loved her.  But that was against the rules too.  God damn it.


	2. The Temporary Manager

“She likes you, you know?”

Kuon looked at Taylor over the lip of his coffee cup.  “What?”

“Jenny.  She keeps flirting with you, and you keep ignoring her.  She wouldn’t mind if you hit that.”

Kuon grimaced at the term and shook his head.  “Not interested.”

“You know, I’ve heard the stories about your days on the teen acting circuit, and the handful of Nick and Dis girls that you dated.”

He groaned.  No one cared when they were fourteen, but now that a couple of them had grown up and turned into prominent young actresses (and one singer) in movies or TV… yeah, people cared.  “That was… ten years ago. Longer even.”

“Yeah.  Then you disappear and when you come back, nothing.  Not a rumor, no girls visiting you on set.  No phone calls.  You live like a monk.  You need to get some.”

“No, I don’t.”  He paused after looking around to see if Kyoko arrived.  “Besides, I’m practically engaged.”

“Practically what now?”

“As in, I bought the ring six months ago.  I was planning on asking three months ago, but then this job got in the way, so it’ll have to wait for another month.”  Kuon took another sip of coffee.  “So I have no intention of ‘hitting that’.  However, I’d like to keep this quiet.  I don’t want it to get back through the grapevine to her.”

Taylor just shook his head at him as if it was a waste.

Kyoko had no idea that he was even thinking about it.  So when he had said he wanted to take their relationship public and she balked, he was annoyed and angry.  It wouldn’t even have mattered if her reasons had been good ones; he would have been annoyed and angry regardless.  That fight had led to a fight about this job, and then it was just no-holds-barred pecking at the all the soft places in their relationship.

And now he was scared that he might have lost her for good.

Kotonami and Amamiya walked into the room and bowed.  Kyoko was mysteriously absent.  The director was behind them and motioned for him.

“I just got off the phone with the president of LME.  Kyoko-san won’t be joining us until later because of a scheduling conflict that occurred.  I didn’t realise that these girls were actually real actresses.  I thought they were just a couple extras from a soap opera.  Apparently, according to the president, he was hoping that these small parts could open some doors for them.”

Kuon nodded.  He was fairly sure that’s not the only thing that the president was thinking, but it was plausible enough.  He translated, with addendums, what the director was saying.

“So, until Kyoko-san arrives, I’ll need to lean a bit more on your Japanese skills.  I’ve given the girls a translation for their scene with their lines.  So we’ll be working on that for now.  The other actress is pretty small and Taylor is tall, so if we block it right it’ll be like we won’t even know that she’s missing while we film this for now. And then we’ll film her conversation with Taylor when she gets here.”

Kuon nodded and once he translated, the girls nodded as well.

*~*~*

What the fuck was going on?  Kuon stared.  This couldn’t be a prank.  Kanae and Chiori weren’t like this and wouldn’t… He shook his head.

“But I need you, Reiko, now. Please, I don’t want to wait until we find a man, he’ll just get in the way.”

Especially not with that hate-filled inflection.

Kuon stood and rushed over to the director.  “Call cut.”

“They’re not even halfway through the lines.”

“The lines are wrong.  Call cut.”

“CUT!”

Kanae immediately stopped talking and crossed her arms over her chest.

“What’s going on?  The blocking was looking really good.”

Kuon ran a hand through his hair.  “The Japanese lines aren’t matching the English version.”

“So? They’re going to be subtitled anyway.”

“Director.  The things they were saying they aren’t even close… it was like late night Cinemax dialogue.  You can’t have dialogue from basically softcore porn and expect a PG-13 rating.  Someone who speaks Japanese will hear it and then, that’s it.  OVER.”

“I got the same guy who translated your stuff for the writer to do the Japanese script for the actresses, though.”

“He probably didn’t realise that a bilingual English-Japanese speaker would be here and thought to have a little fun.  It’s completely unprofessional.”  Kuon sighed.  “We need to apologize to them.”

He wondered why the girls didn’t come up to him and ask him about the script.  Did they really think those were the lines they were expected to say?

When he apologized, he bowed deeply.  This whole Tokyo shoot was turning into a nightmare.

“So then, what do we do now?”

“I can translate the dialogue, but they’d have to write it down themselves.  Even if they just get the nuance of the lines, they can fix it themselves, I’m sure.  But it’ll take a while to make sure it works.  Thirty minutes to an hour.”  Kuon sighed.

“Fine.  We’ll take a break.”  The director turned and left, but forgot to bow.

Kuon explained the situation and asked if they knew of a place they could sit and discuss the script.  It wouldn’t look right if he, a foreigner, was too familiar with the studio.  Kanae led them over to a break room and they sat down and he took out his script.

Chiori took out a notebook and started copying some of the lines.  When he looked down at her script it was a mass of very angry writing, so there wasn’t any room to actually correct the lines.

“Let’s get started.”

*~*~*

Kyoko walked onto the set with Yashiro next to her.  The director didn’t wait to come up.

“Oh good, you’re here.  Our shooting schedule got a bit backed up due to a translation error, so I’d like to try filming your conversation with Taylor’s character first instead.  Is that all right?”  It was only then that he noticed Yashiro.

“Ah, excuse me.”  Yashiro’s English was slow, but proficient.  “I am Yashiro Yukihito.  I am acting as the temporary manager for these girls.”

The director bowed quickly.  “Temporary manager?”

“Ah, Kyoko-san and Kotonami-san share a manager who just started her maternity leave last week.  My actor left to go overseas today, so until a manager can be found to replace theirs, I will be working with them.”  He bowed.  “Please take care of me.”

The director looked confused but said “OK.”

“May I please inquire to where Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san are?”

“Ah.  In the breakroom with Kuon.  He’s retranslating the script for them.”

Kyoko pulled out her own script and flipped through.

“Ah, they were given a translation.  It turned out to not be accurate enough.”

Yashiro narrowed his eyes.  Kyoko agreed with his expression. Something fishy happened.

The two went into the waiting room that had been pointed out to them.  Yashiro stopped and stared.

“Kyoko-chan?  When he said Kuon, did he mean Hizuri Kuon?”

She nodded.  “That’s Kuu’s son.”

Yashiro made a high-pitched sound before settling back into his proper manager stance.  “I’m sorry, I’m just a huge fan of your father.  He winked at me once.”

Kyoko watched as Kuon put his face in his hand and his shoulders gently shook with laughter.  “Yeah, that does sound like my father.  He loves the attention he gets here in Japan.”

“Kanae, Yashiro-san is going to be our manager for a couple of weeks until we can find a replacement.  Since Ren is out of the country, and his workload is much smaller for the next month, he volunteered.  Chiyorin, if you don’t want to bring your manager to these shoots, he’s agreed to represent you as well.”

“Good.  Can you please have him deliver this death threat to whoever wrote these lines, then?”

Yashiro picked up Chiori’s abandoned Japanese language script and read the lines.  He turned pale.

“That’s how I imagine I looked when they actually started saying them.”  Kuon bowed his head to the man who was usually his manager.  “My deepest apologies for not realising sooner that the translation was different.  In my own script, my Japanese lines are romanized, so I had no idea the text was different for them.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I think I must speak more with the director.  Kyoko-san, please check your lines and come to me if anything seems inappropriate.”

She nodded.

“Did they give you a different script?”

Kyoko nodded.  “I was given the English version.  I never thought there would be a discrepancy between the English and the translation.”  She sighed.  “Do you need help with translating the rest of the scene?”

Kanae and Chiori motioned no.  “Kuon-san has been very helpful.  We’re just working on the handful of other scenes that we’ll be in.”

“Were the lines wrong in all the scenes?”

Kanae nodded.  “Not every single line, but there were further instances.”

*~*~*

Kyoko kept texting on her phone, and Kuon couldn’t help but wonder just who she was speaking to.  She sighed and put it back in her pocket, only to take it out again a minute later when the reply came in.  Again with the furious thumb-typing.  With a final swipe she dropped her phone on the table and went to take her mark when the director called her over.

“You should stop, Kuon-san.”

He turned to look at Kanae.  “Excuse me, Kotonami-san?”

“You keep looking at Kyoko-san.  You should stop.  Seriously.”  Chiori shifted over one step.  “I was here, right?  Closer to you, Kanae-san?”

Kanae nodded.  “She’s taken.”  Kanae continued.

“So very much so.  By someone with an immense jealous streak, though the rest of the world would never believe it.”

“Ah.  No, that’s not…”  Kuon tried to figure out just what he wanted to say to them because they were right: he did keep stealing looks at Kyoko.  She was doing a much better job at pretending he didn’t exist then he was at pretending she didn’t.  “Ah.  I’m taken as well.”

Chiori clicked her tongue.  “Your poor girlfriend.”

“Action!”

Kuon leaned back against the bar and smiled a bit languidly.  He took a sip of the tea that was standing in for a glass of whisky.  They didn’t have any mics to pick up their conversation and were only in soft focus on the camera, so he picked up their conversation.  “It’s not like that.  I’m trying to figure out if I know her.  See, I know I’ve heard her name before…”

“Oh.”  Kanae moved in like she was going to say something funny.   “She knows your father.”

Kuon felt like patting himself on the back for getting out of this particular tough spot.  He smiled in response to the unsaid joke.  “Is that where I heard her name?  Probably.”

Chiori was gripping her drink as if her life depended on it.  She looked down before turning her face up to him.  “She visits him whenever he comes to Japan.”

He leaned closer and watched as she bobbed away and blushed.  Chiori really was a good actress, even if her personality was less sparkly than people believed it to be.  “That’s got to be it.  Thanks.”

*~*~*

Chiori and Kanae were curled up in one of the two beds in the hotel room.  Kyoko was sitting on the other with her cheek pressed against her knee.  Her hair was falling around her face.  It was very attractive in Kuon’s opinion.

Taylor was straddling a chair while he was standing at the end of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest.

“They are much bigger outside of Tokyo, but there are some here.  Are you sure it’s the Yamaguchi-gumi that have this thing that you need?”

Taylor nodded.  “It’s really important that we find it.  It’d be bad otherwise.  Nuclear war bad.”

Kuon sighed.  “We don’t know that.  All we know is that we have to get the flash drive back, no matter what.  I tried cracking into their servers, but I haven’t had luck finding a hole to exploit yet.”

“So we were going to try to go at them directly.”

Kyoko stared at them like they were crazy.  Which, if it hadn’t been the plot of a movie, two college computer guys taking on a branch of the yakuza would be beyond pretty crazy and foolhardy.  “You really should rethink this plan of yours.  Maybe…” She paused and bit her lip.  “I know someone, though I haven’t spoken to him since he was adopted into the family.  He might not reply.”

The two men looked at each other.  “Tell us more.”

“Cut!”

The director walked onto the set and Kanae and Chiori stood up to stretch their legs.

“That’s the last angle that we needed.  Good job.”  He flipped through a couple pages.  “All right.  The permits that we need to film at our locations are almost settled.  We have one for later this week, and I’m hoping the factory will come through for the day after tomorrow.  Hopefully this doesn’t screw up your schedules too much, girls.  You’re doing a great job.”

The three Love Me members bowed.  “Thank you.”  Though it was Kyoko that was speaking for them.  “Our manager will stay in contact to make sure that we are at the location when we are next needed.”

The director smiled and left. Kyoko was telling them what the director had said.

“The only one who’s schedule hasn’t been cleared for this is you, Kyoko-chan.”

She hummed in thought.  “Though if we actually follow the schedule, then it should be fine.  The president convinced Togo-san to hold off on the rest of his scenes until next week.  Granted, director Shingai had to do a lot of begging, as did I.”

“I can’t believe you gave that horrible man a full dogeza just so he wouldn’t leave in a huff.”  Chiori clenched her fist.  “Does he really think he’s that special just because he acts in a bunch of half-rate traditional trash?”

“Thank you, Chiyorin,” Kyoko deadpanned.

“Well it’s not half-rate traditional trash if **_you’re_ ** in it.”  Her cheeks flushed with color.  “I just think that he’s being ridiculous.”

Kanae sighed.  “Unfortunately, he isn’t.  Kyoko-chan’s lucky that he’s even willing to adjust the shooting schedule.  I’m sure Togo-san is a horrible man, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t correct about how the job is being carried out.”

“Luckily, the director is on my side.”

“You’re the main character.  Not just the female lead.  Of course the schedule should be able to accommodate you.”

“But I have less time in the industry.  Technically, I’m still paying my dues and Togo-san is very big on the hierarchy of the way the industry works.  So am I, for that matter, which is why I find this whole situation annoying.  It isn’t doing my reputation with older actors any favors.”

*~*~*

“What are they talking about?”

Kuon looked over at his co-star.  “Do you enjoy eavesdropping?”

The man paused in thought.  “Yeah, kinda.  Is it juicy?”

Kuon shook his head.  “It’s just about their work.”

“I wonder what the industry is like over here.  It’s got to be different.  I mean we have agents, but they don’t accompany us everywhere.  Mine is back in his cushy office in L.A.. That glasses guy is everywhere they are now.”

“My understanding is that the managers over here are a bit more like an agent mixed with a personal assistant.  So my father has his agent, but he also has two assistants, but when he was working here, he had one manager and that’s it.  Hollywood is bigger than the entertainment industry in Japan.”

“Your dad did the right thing by breaking out.”

Kuon shrugged.

*~*~*

Kyoko dropped her bag on the sidewalk and stared at the window of the shop they were supposed to be using in the drama.  A police officer was standing to the side and noticed her.  “Kyoko-san?”

She nodded.

“Can I have a word, please?”

She turned to look at him and he bowed.  Years at the ryokan were the only thing that saved her from a breach of etiquette as she reflexively returned the bow.

“Have you been receiving any threats lately?”

“No.”  Her eyes were still glued to the damage done to the front of the shop.

“Are you sure?  Any letters or notes?”

She blinked and focused more on the officer that was talking to her.  “Not that I know of. Though I don’t always go through all the mail I receive.  I usually make time every other week or so, so there is a bit of a backlog.”

She wasn’t well known enough yet for the agency to have her mail opened and sorted for her, like Ren.

“I would like to make an appointment with you so that we can go through the letters together.”

“All right.”  He bowed and walked away.

Director Shingai was at her elbow a second later.  “Kyoko-chan?”

“I… uh…” She sunk down into a squat and hugged her knees.  “Are you all right?”

She nodded.  “Yes, I’m fine.”

He put his hand on her back.  “You’re not, and I wouldn’t expect you to be.  I should call your manager.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “She’s already on maternity leave.”  She reached into her bag, pulled out her phone and hit one of the emergency contacts.  “Yukihito-san?”

“That’s Yashiro-san. Ren’s manager?”

Kyoko ignored him.  “I… I need a car at the location.  Now.”  Shingai took the phone out of her hand.  

“Yashiro-san.  There’s been an incident.”

 


	3. Shattered Visage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains a little tiny lemony scene.

 

He put the cup of tea down in front of her.  “Kyoko-chan, I’m just going to step outside and try to get in touch with Ren.”

“No!”  Kyoko shook her head.  “Don’t make me regret calling you.  You can’t.”

He sighed and sat down next to her.  “Kyoko-chan, Ren still loves you.”

“And you can’t say that.”

He smiled sadly.  “Well, he does and I know that you must still love him.  I don’t know what happened or why it hasn’t been resolved, but he’ll be upset if no one tells him.  You remember what happened during the  _ Dark Moon _ shoot, and the two of you weren’t even together then.”

“Technically, we’re not together right now.”

“I’m going to at least send him a message, even though you don’t want me to.”

She pressed her face into her hands.  “It’s fine.  It was just some--”

“Stalker?”

“I’m not even sure that it was a stalker.  If it was, would they really have written those words on the window?”

Yashiro pat her on the head.  “I’ll be right back, I am literally just going to be down the hall watching this door, so don’t even try to leave.”

Kyoko sighed.

*~*~*

Kuon jumped when his phone rang… or rather, Ren’s phone rang.  He looked at the screen.

“Kuon?”

“Ah, I need to take this.  Excuse me?”  He walked down the hall and into his dressing room and locked the door behind him.  By then the phone had stopped ringing, so he called back.

“Hello?”

“Yashiro?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.  I didn’t even check what time it was in New York, I am sure that it’s the middle of the night.”

Kuon did the math quickly in his head.  4 a.m.  “It’s all right.  I needed to wake up soon anyway.  The gym is less crowded early in the morning.  What is it?”

“Something happened to Kyoko.”

A knock on the door distracted him.  “I have to go.”  He hung up.  If they called his name that was the end of it.

“Kuon?”

He opened the door.  “I was on an important call.” 

“Sorry, but it’s about today’s shoot at the factory.  We have to postpone.”  The AD looked apologetic.

“Why?”

“The actress.  The English speaking one?”

He nodded.

“I’m not entirely sure what happened, but we just received word that she can’t come because she needs to sit down with the police or something.”

“The police?”   _ What the-- _

The AD nodded.  “The director got a short call from her manager person saying that she is shaken, can’t act today and that she needs to meet with the police.  I guess she was in an accident or something.”

Kuon just stared at her.  If he hadn’t hung up the phone, he would have known what was going on already.

“Anyway, I just thought that you should know that we’re postponing.  You guys will have a free night instead.  I think they were talking about going to one of those izakayas or something tonight for drinks.”

“Yeah, thanks for letting me know.”  Kuon shut the door and locked it again.  He needed to think up a reason for why he hung up…  He sighed.  He’d have to wing it.  He called Yashiro back.

“I apologize for hanging up.  What happened with Kyoko?”

Yashiro sighed.  “She told me I shouldn’t have called you, but I thought you would… She’s fine.  She’s not hurt or anything like that.  Just a thing at her drama shoot.  I really should get back to her.”  The disappointment was dripping from every word out of Yashiro’s mouth.  The phone disconnected.

Well, that had gone horribly.

*~*~*

Kyoko shut the door of her apartment after Kanae, assuring her that she wouldn’t hesitate to go over there if she needed something, since it was only a flight up.  It was definitely strange having to make Kanae go home.  Usually, Kanae was the one ready to push her out the door.

She wrapped her arms around herself and sat on the couch.  She was still shaken.  It wasn’t the derogatory name, or even the fact that whoever had done it had thrown a rock through the window of the shop.  It was the picture.

It was a picture that shouldn’t exist.  She knew when that picture was taken and where, and it should have been impossible, because that picture had been taken in Ren’s apartment last month.

Not from outside.  From inside.  And they’d been alone.  And she couldn’t tell anyone that.  She just had to tell the police that she had no way of knowing when the picture had been taken or where.  The general consensus was that it could have been taken anywhere, even on a set.

She had planned to message Ren later in the day, but changed her mind when she saw the look of fury on Yashiro’s face when he came back from calling him.  She wondered what had happened on the phone, but he wouldn’t tell her anything.  They’d spent the rest of the afternoon going through her “fanmail” and she’d forgot to send him a message.

The doorbell buzzing made her look up.  She walked over to the door and looked out of the peephole.  It was someone really tall, in a hat and sunglasses after midnight.  She sighed and opened the door.

“You shouldn’t have come,” she said as she shut the door behind him.

Kuon took off his hat and tossed the sunglasses onto a nearby table.  “I didn’t have a choice, you weren’t taking my calls.”

Kyoko squeezed her hands into fists.  “Things were going on.  I was rather busy.”

“With the police?  Was there an accident?  What happened?”

Kyoko just stared at him.  “Yashiro-san told you already.”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.  “No, he didn’t because I hung up on him right as he was about to tell me, because someone was knocking on my dressing room door and if they called my name…”

“That would have been awkward.”

“To say the least.”  He sighed again.  “An AD told me that you’d been in an accident or something, and couldn’t come because you were shaken and dealing with the police.  When I called Yashiro back… he wouldn’t tell me anything.”  Kuon grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her.  He was scared.

“I’m fine. I’m  _ fine _ .”  She touched his cheek with one hand.  “It’s all right.  I’m fine.  There wasn’t an accident, per se.”

“So what was it?”

Kyoko took a deep breath.  “Someone vandalized the shop that we were going to be using for the drama.  We were supposed to start filming there this morning.”

“That’s it?”

She shook her head and held out her phone.  He took it and looked at the image on the screen.    His eyes were a bit wide and wild.  She put her hand over his and took the phone back.  She reached out and brushed his hair out of his face.  “Kuon.  Take a breath.  Or three.  Please.”

She watched as he closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.  

“It’s all right.  I’m fine.  Nothing happened to me.  The police have taken all my fanmail, but I don’t think they’re looking in the right place.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her.  They were much more intense when he didn’t have the colored contacts on.  “What do you mean?”

“I know where that picture was taken.”

“Where?”

“From inside your apartment last month.”

He blinked.  “How?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I don’t know.  You don’t arrange for deliveries unless you are there and you do your own cleaning and laundry just to keep people from going into your apartment.  And I know that you keep track of who is using the keys and when.”

He put his head down on Kyoko’s shoulder and she rubbed his back.

“This is the opposite of what I had planned.”

“What?”

“I was supposed to be comforting you.”

She leaned her head against his.  “I’ve had nonstop comforting all day.  More tea than even I can drink.  Whereas you’ve probably been in a panic, but still had to work.  I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that Yashiro-san ended up not telling you.  He wouldn’t tell me what had happened on the phone call, but I knew it didn’t go how he thought it would.”

He stayed with his head on her shoulder for a couple of minutes more before straightening.  “He’s probably pissed off.”

Kyoko smiled.  

He creased his brow.  “What?”

“You’ve been speaking like an American since you’ve arrived.”

He sighed.  “I don’t even know what my real voice is like anymore.”  The accent was gone, but the slightly more open way of speaking was still there.

“Probably this.  The way you talk to me normally when you don’t have to be anyone.”  She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.  Their lips barely parted.  It was the chastest kiss they’d had in a long while, but it was incredibly calming for Kyoko, and the way she could feel the muscles in Kuon’s shoulders and back relax under her fingers, it must have been having a similar effect on him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up off the ground without breaking the kiss.  She felt him lean back against the wall, but other than that she just stayed in his arms kissing him and being kissed until they were both out of air.  He pressed his face into the curve of her neck and took a deep breath.  “This is the worst.”

“What is?”

“The whole situation.  I should be able to be here, with you, not having to hide down the hall, waiting until Kotonami-san left your apartment.  I’m already completely distracted by you on the set, so I don’t know what will happen when we actually start filming the few more scenes we have here in Tokyo.”

“And then you leave for London.”

He groaned.  “You just had to remind me.”

She nodded.  “This is why we decided to stay on a break until this movie ended.  Try to untangle things.  I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near your Tokyo location shoot.”

“I’d rather be tangled.  I’d rather have your legs wrapped around me.  I’d rather be able to feel you and know that you’re fine instead of wondering the entire day.”

Kyoko laced her fingers with his and tugged him toward the bedroom. “Stay for a while.”

*~*~*

Kuon woke up with Kyoko in his arms and he smiled.  He pressed his lips against her hair and just breathed in her scent.  This is how things should be.  He skimmed his hand down her side and ran his thumb along her hipbone.  Kyoko shifted back into him and he closed his eyes, just letting the wave of pleasure as she pressed against him run over him.

He slid his hand down, splayed his fingers over her stomach, and kissed her neck.

“Hmm.”  Kyoko lifted her arm and slid her fingers into his hair.  “Corn, it’s not morning yet.”

“No.”  He slowly moved his hand until it was covering one breast.  “Morning is quite far away.”  He dragged his teeth across the lobe of her ear as he massaged her breast, his fingers just grazing her nipple.

Her breath caught and her fingers tightened in his hair.  She pressed back against him more firmly and he moaned in her ear.  Wrapping his fingers around his hand, she slid it along her stomach and down further to the edge of her curls before letting go.

He smiled against her neck as he pushed his fingers down between her lips, brushing the nub of nerves lightly before rubbing a little more firmly.  She whimpered and leaned more into him.  He felt her foot hook over his leg and pull it between her thighs so that her legs were parted.  “Corn.”

He rocked his hips forward and up until he could feel himself pressing into her entrance.  “This?”

She nodded and he felt her hand drop down between them, her fingers wrapping around him and helping to guide him in.

He didn’t move for a minute once he was completely inside.  He just closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of her walls tightening around him just so.  He took a deep breath and started moving, their bodies slowly rocking as he played first with her clit before moving his hand back up her body to play with her other breast, teasing her nipple between finger and thumb.  

Her moans were small and breathy.  She turned her head just enough and he claimed her lips, kissing her slow and hard as they just moved.  They were completely entangled on her bed.  Tongues, legs, arms, bodies.  His hand was on her stomach then, pushing her tighter against him, and he could just feel the tips of her fingers brush the base of him when she slid her arm behind her back and between them again.

He swallowed at the light touch, stilling for a moment and she took advantage, grinding back against him.  “Kyo...ko.”

She rolled forward just a bit and he followed.  Now, instead of being behind her, he was pressing her down into the mattress from behind.  She moaned a little as he slid even deeper into her.  His thrusts were harder and his fingers played with her nub.  He could feel her tighten around him and his breath left him in a rush.  

*~*~*

“And... Cut! Let me check the playback.”

Kuon and Taylor let go of the stuntmen they’d been holding on to.

Taylor looked over at the three girls.  “You guys are good.”

Kyoko wasn’t really paying attention so Kuon translated for Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san. They both gave small bows.

“Thank you.  I’ve trained in various combat for roles in the past.  As has Kyoko-chan.  Did you do any training, Chiyorin?”

The other girl shook her head.  “I’ve taken a lot of self defense classes.  I never want to be cast in one of those lowbrow period dramas.”

Being that Kanae was quickly making a name for herself with those “lowbrow period dramas”, she just sighed.  Kuon knew Kanae’s opinion on them wasn’t much higher.

“Kyoko-chan?  The boys are complimenting our mean fighting skills.”

“Hmm?”

“What’s with her?”  Taylor nodded toward Kyoko when Kuon had finished translating the gist of what the girls had said.

“Didn’t you hear the AD yesterday? She was in an accident or something.”  Kuon watched as the three girls just moved a bit further away and lowered their voices.  They definitely didn’t want him listening to their conversation.

“Shit, that sucks.”

He sighed.  He didn’t like having to leave Kyoko so early in the morning, and the conversation he’d had with Yashiro once he was back behind the locked door of his hotel room hadn’t been easy.

He’d still been angry, and Kuon had yet to come up with a reason why he’d hung up because everything sounded ridiculous to his own ears.  Eventually, he gave up and just said that he didn’t have a good reason and distracted him with the fact that he’d talked to Kyoko later that day and got the story out of her.

Then he had to tell him about the picture; that it had been taken from inside of his apartment, and more recently than Yashiro would have thought.

“So you’re still sleeping together?  I should’ve known.  You can’t just leave her alone.”

It had been a simplified way of looking at things, but not entirely inaccurate, and he told Yashiro as much.

“Fine, I’ll arrange for a detective to sweep the apartment if you want.”

So Kuon had to figure out a way to get any trace of Kuon out of his apartment… which meant the president, probably.  He sighed.  Or he could come clean to Yashiro.  He didn’t know which plan was worse.

A hand was moving in front of his face and he looked up.  “Dude, stop being a space cadet.  We have the next part of the fight to do.  The girls are taking a break.”

He nodded.  “OK.”  The fight choreographer went over the moves with them again.  It was something that they had learned a couple of months ago during Kuon’s first trip to LA for prep work and the beginning of filming.

They took a break and he headed off to find where they had set up the craft services table so he could grab a water.  He made a wrong turn, though, and saw Kyoko a bit further down the hall, standing against the wall with her eyes closed.

He looked behind him and there was no one.  So he went up to her and penned her in with his arms before bending his head and claiming her lips for a kiss.  Her eyes opened and she smiled.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed close.  

He’d meant for it to just be a quick kiss, but the moment her arms wrapped around his neck he forgot about that and pushed her against the wall.  He kissed down her neck and then tugged on the lobe of her ear with his teeth.  She sighed and let her head tip back.  He pressed his lips against the pulse in her throat and lightly sucked for just a second.  It wasn’t anywhere near hard enough to leave a mark, but it made him feel better knowing that he could and she wouldn’t have stopped him.

The breaking of a glass made him stop and they separated quickly.  Yashiro was at the end of the hall.

“What are you doing to Kyoko-chan?”

He looked at her eyes.  They were wide.  She didn’t know what they should do either.

He shrugged.  It was either what he was about to do, or a much longer conversation no one had time for right now.  “Taking advantage,” he said in English.  “Excuse me.”  And he walked down the hall without stopping.

*~*~*

Kuon watched the choreographer go through the scene one more time with Taylor.  He wasn’t as proficient with hand-to-hand as Kuon was, so he asked for another run-through before they began filming.  From the corner of his eye, he saw Kyoko fiddling around with her phone again, so when his pocket started buzzing he wasn’t entirely surprised and was able to ignore it.

He waited until the director was talking to her about something to take his phone out and look at it.

_ I convinced him not to complain to the director about your behavior.  I think you need to tell him.  You just have to.  He’s your friend. _

He typed a response out but didn’t send it.  Yashiro was paying too much attention to them.  If it seemed like they were talking via phone… He sighed.  He needed to put off this conversation until they were alone.  He put his phone back in his pocket and waited until he was called to the set to start the scene.  As he was setting his phone down, he pressed send.

_ Tell him that the two of you need to find the camera tonight.  I’ll be there as soon as I can get out of dinner. _

*~*~*

“So where do you think the camera is?”

Kyoko looked around the apartment.  “It has to be somewhere in the kitchen area, I think.  From the angle of the picture that’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

Yashiro went to the closet and pulled out a step stool.  As he was setting it up the door to the apartment opened and he looked over.  Kuon was shutting the door and taking off his hat.

“How did you get in here?”

He flashed a keycard.

Yashiro turned on Kyoko.  “Did you give him that?”

“H-How would I have managed to do that?  They have to be requested from management and the codes hardwired into the system.  You know the only one who could do that is Ren.”

Yashiro narrowed his eyes.  “I doubt Ren would give him a key.”  He was just so angry.  Everything had been happy in his little world a few months ago.  Ren and Kyoko were happy.  Ren was ring shopping, even though he wasn’t supposed to know about that.  Then they broke up.  Just bam.  And no more Kyoko.  Ren was miserable.  Kyoko seemed to be constantly annoyed.  And now in the last twenty-four hours things had gotten even more complicated.  Kyoko was doing something with Kuu’s son, and Ren was inexplicably hanging up on him at a time when he should have been alone and able to talk.  Just what in the world was happening?

His phone started ringing from his pocket and he fished it out.  Of course it would be Ren.  He answered about to give him a piece of his mind.

“Don’t say anything!  I don’t know what is going on but--”

His voice was echoing.  It was coming from the phone that was in Kuon’s outstretched hand.

“That’s Ren’s phone.”

Kuon nodded.  “Yukihito--”

“And that’s Ren’s voice.”

Kuon sighed.  “I’m sorry.  I couldn’t tell you, and I probably still wouldn’t have, but Kyoko told me to and… she had a point.”

Yashiro sat down on the stool.  This was… bigger than he’d imagined.  He thought that maybe Ren was really the son of a yakuza.  Or maybe the owner of a high-powered company, but most likely the yakuza one.  This was not at all what he had imagined.  “So…”

“So.”

“So?  Really?  That’s all the two of you are going to say?!  I didn’t talk to Ren for two weeks, I was so mad at him!”

“Ah. So that’s how you ruined White Day.  I always wondered about that.”

“Pretty much.”  He paused.  “Yukihito, before I told Kyoko, only the president and my parents knew who was behind the mask of Tsuruga Ren.”  He let out a breath.  “When I started acting as Kuon overseas last year, we had to tell Miss Woods.  She knew what I looked like since she’s responsible for maintaining ‘Ren’, but even she didn’t know exactly who I was.”

He nodded.  “It makes sense.  The key to keeping a secret is to not let people even know there is a secret.”

“Even if you’ve already slept with them.”  Kyoko muttered.

“Kyoko...  Nevermind.  I’m never being forgiven for that, I’ve accepted it.”  Kuon sighed. 

“Why did you actually hang up when I was trying to tell you about Kyoko-chan?”

“An AD was knocking on my dressing room door and if she happened to call my name then…” Kuon lifted his hands into the air and dropped them.  “She was there to tell me that something happened to one of the girls from LME, and that we had to postpone filming.  I called you right back, knowing that I couldn’t even make up a plausible sounding excuse other than the obvious.”

“I thought you were with another woman.  And then I had to go and comfort Kyoko.  I was so mad.  I’ve been supportive of you two since before you even liked each other!”

“I know.  Something had happened to Kyoko and I didn’t know what and no one would answer their phones.”

“He snuck over to my apartment at around midnight last night just to find out what was going on.  I didn’t know you hadn’t told him, otherwise I would have called him earlier in the day.”

“So the fight you had, it was over this role?”

He watched as they looked at each other.  “Yes and no.  It wasn’t the impetus, but it was part of it.  After this movie ended we were planning--”

“We decided to take a break while he was filming.  It just didn’t really work out as planned because he has a pout that can melt the polar ice cap and too powerful smiles that work like magic spells and bewitched me.  So we laid out some rules instead.”

Yashiro started laughing; he couldn’t help himself.  “So all this time I’ve been managing Hizuri Kuon and not the prince of the yakuza.  I’ll take that as a plus.”

“So you aren’t mad?”

Yashiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses.  “I’ll decide in the morning.  The last two days have been hell for me, which means they’ve probably been worse for the two of you.  I assume that’s why you broke character and I was even able to catch you in the hall.”

Kuon nodded.

“Let’s find the camera.  If it’s WiFi-enabled, we may be able to trace it to where it sent the pictures.”  He stood up and climbed on the stool.  “You said about here, Kyoko-chan?”

She nodded.  “I think I was here.”  She stopped when she was against the window.  “So it at least needs to be on the top of the shelves.”

Yashiro reached up and felt around.  “You know.  I think it’s weird that Ren wasn’t in the picture as well.  I mean it was obvious that something was going on, but there’s not even a reflection of him.  The picture was just you from the waist up...”  He shook his head and looked down.  He paused.  “Kyoko-chan, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him turn that shade of red before.”

She was pretty red as well.  “I didn’t know he could.”

*~*~*

“This is a list of numbers and date-time stamps.  It means nothing to me.”  Yashiro was staring at the top of a pile of papers Kyoko had given him that morning.

She shrugged.  “I got the file e-mailed to me last night.”  She opened her phone and thumbed through her e-mail.  “Oh wait.  Here.”  She held the phone out and Yashiro read the email.

“Those are the key card identifiers.  Does he really have them memorized?”  He paused.  “Of course he does.  All right, so I’ll need to cross reference this.  Are you sure that you’re going to be all right on today’s shoot?  I’d much rather do this behind the locked door of my apartment.”

Kyoko nodded.  “I just have to pretend to drown.  I’m sure I can handle that.”

Yashiro pressed his face into his hands and took a deep breath.  “Just don’t actually drown, please.”

“I do know how to swim.  And there will be people on the set to make sure that doesn’t happen.  A medic and a rescue team, but because everything’s already been arranged, I have to leave.  I have an even longer prep than I usually do, since I have to put on a protective wetsuit under the kimono.”

Yashiro nodded and Kyoko left his office to head for the exit.  The car service she arranged to take her to the shooting location should have already arrived.  She climbed into the small minivan and relaxed into the seat.  She needed to still her heart.  It felt as if it had been racing for days.  The scene she was going to film was incredibly important; if it didn’t come out perfectly, the entire climax of the drama would be ruined.

The location was a little outside the city, so it took time before they arrived.  The only people on the set before her were the men setting up the safety precautions and the wardrobe and makeup people who were waiting for her.

She bowed and apologized if she had kept them waiting, even though she had arrived earlier than it had originally been planned.  Though they were doing a simpler version of a traditional hairstyle, the wig styling still took the longest for the first scene.  She wouldn’t get completely into the kimono and makeup until later on.  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for moment before standing and walking onto the set.

*~*~*

“Exquisite.  This is why I knew I needed to cast her.”  Shingai wasn’t really talking to anyone, but the crew that was watching the filming mostly nodded in agreement.  He could hear the whispers about how intense her acting was today, even though she wouldn’t have a single line in any of the scenes that they were shooting.

“Cut!  Good work, Kyoko-chan.  Go and eat now.  I know it’s early, but the weather is going to clear and we want it to be overcast when we shoot the outdoor scenes.”

Kyoko bowed to him and walked out.

Shingai went over the schedule with the crew again.  “From here we’ll do the scene where she walks out in the kimono from the house across the field to the pond.  Since she’s going to walk into the pond, we need to have multi-angle coverage.  Both this and the following scene should be one-take scenes.”

The crew nodded.  Not a single one doubted that Kyoko could pull off a one-take scene.  Especially given her performance of the scene at the vanity a few minutes prior.

“Make sure there is a camera that can zoom in on her walking.  I want a wider shot that can move to tighter on her, but another one to capture the imagery of her walking through the grass barefoot and how the kimono is trailing along.  It should be a stark contrast between the green and the blush pink.”

Two of the camera men nodded.

“She’s only going to take a few steps in.  Then the scene will cut to Araki-san’s reaction shot.  We’re filming that tomorrow while Kyoko-chan is off on a location shoot.  We’ll have the footage from today to prime him.”

One of the crew cut in.  “If Kyoko-san won’t be here, what are we filming tomorrow?”

“Primarily the confrontation between father and son.  Araki-san should be arriving soon so that we can film him carrying Kyoko-chan out of the water.  Make sure he is prepped with a wetsuit.  The water is just above freezing.”

Everyone nodded and went off to do their tasks.  

*~*~*

Kyoko took a step out into the grass of the field and it crunched under her feet as she made her slow way down to the lake.  Tsukiko had just lost everything and had nothing to live for.  No child or lover.  Her husband was mean and vicious and beat her.

Tears rolled unchecked as she stepped into the water.  The kimono initially floated up around her feet and then started to sink as the fabric absorbed the water, soaking the kimono even past the depth she was standing.  It was cold.  Like Tsukiko’s heart had become.  The wind whipped at her hair and she turned her face into it.  Even the sky was telling her she was doing the right thing.  She took another step and then another.

“Cut!”

Kyoko stopped and closed her eyes, letting the pain of Tsukiko evaporate and let the spirit of the character fly out of her.  An assistant splashed through the water to assist her as she walked back out.

Shingai was standing up out of his chair and a lot of the crew were staring at her transfixed.  

“What happened?”  The assistant held her elbow until they were on the grass again and Kyoko could lift the edges of the damp kimono herself.  Someone placed a warm blanket around her shoulders and they started walking back up the field.

“You were amazing.  Some of the girls watching the monitors even started to cry as you went into the pond.”

“Really?”

The assistant nodded.

“Really good work, Kyoko-chan.  Get dry and warm and then we’ll do the actual water.  Don’t forget the wetsuit.”

*~*~*

“You’re wearing it.”

Kyoko stuck out her chin.  “No.  If you want the scene with me to have as much impact as when I’m actually walking into the water, I need to feel that cold.”

“I can’t let you do it.”

“I won’t wear the wetsuit.  I’m already dressed in costume and the makeup is done.  If we don’t do the scene now, the light will be too different.”

Director Shingai narrowed his eyes.

“Honestly, the wetsuit limits my movements.  Do you really think the scene would be better if I wore it?”

“You’re tying my hands, Kyoko-san.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but I don’t want to wear it and I’m asking you to let me do the scene without it.”

“Where’s Yashiro-san? He’s acting as your manager, right?”

Kyoko looked away.  If he actually did contact Yashiro, then she’d have to put the suit on.  But she saw the footage from her walk out.  She wanted this to be as good or better.  “He’s working on something for Ren and had to stay in the office today.  He might still be there.”

“You don’t want me to call him.”

She shook her head.  “If you call him, he’ll tell me to go back to costuming.  But Director Shingai,”  she turned back to look at him, “I am as invested as you into making this the best drama I can.”

The director sighed.  “Fine, but we need to get the footage fast.  There is a hard limit to how long I can let you stay in the water.  And we’ll have to have the still photographer taking photos at the same time since we can’t do that immediately after as I had planned.”

He turned away and then looked back.  “Kyoko-chan, you’re as foolhardy as Ren.”

She smiled.  “Thank you.”

He sighed again and shook his head.  “I didn’t mean that as a compliment.”

*~*~*

Shingai bit his knuckle as he watched the monitors with the different angles covering Kyoko as she laid down in the water.  She was right in that he knew the wetsuit would limit the way she could move, but her safety had been a priority.  He probably shouldn’t have let her talk him into this.

He glanced over at the timer; he had started it the second she’d walked into the water.  The safety personnel who were helping her partially submerge were just about clear of the cameras.  He pressed the button on his radio.  “Go.  Start the cameras.  Tell Kyoko-chan to start when she’s ready.”

Five seconds later it was as if the air stilled.  Kyoko’s eyes clouded over as if a storm was waging in her soul.  She didn’t have a single line, but every emotion from the betrayal and depression to the anger and hurt and loathing shone in just the lines of her face and how she held her body in the water.  He watched as the tension started to ease out of her limbs and the water start to lick around her neck.  A bit of water splashed over her face and she closed her eyes.

He glanced at the timer; there wasn’t much time left.

Her head went under just a little and she spluttered.  Then again.  The third time he could see how Tsukiko decided to give in and her eyes opened.  One more time.  The timer was going off.  He needed to call cut.   _ Close your eyes again, Kyoko-chan. _   One, two, three.  Kyoko’s eyes fluttered shut.

“NOW!”

Araki-san splashed into the water and lifted Kyoko out of the water.  “Ko-ko-chan?”  Shingai shook his head.  He wasn’t supposed to say anything.  They’d have to overdub it to Tsukiko’s name.  The cameras went wider as he carried her out of the water.

They’d gone over the timer by over a handful of minutes.

“CUUUUUT!”

He ran out of the tent.


	4. Things we did and didn’t do

 “Whhhy?  Why would you do this to me?”  Yashiro was glaring at Kyoko as they walked out of the hospital.  “You promised, Kyoko-chan.  You said you wouldn’t drown.”

“I didn’t, did I?  I’m right here.  They’re sending me home.  They didn’t find anything wrong with me.”  Kyoko wrapped her jacket a little tighter as they got into the car.  “I only went as a precaution because Director Shingai insisted.”

“You terrified your co-star.”

Kyoko sighed.  “I can’t believe he called me that ridiculous nickname while we were in the scene.”

“You were blue.”

“But the take was good.  You heard Shingai-san.  It was better than good.”  She was all smiles.

“Kyoko-chan.”  Yashiro sighed.  “Why are you doing this?”

She looked at him.  “Because I have to be the best actress I can be.”

*~*~*

Chiori rolled her eyes.  “They do know that this is not Tokyo.  That no road like this actually exists in the confines of Tokyo.”  They were prepping for a scene along a long road lined with sakura trees in bloom.  It was picturesque, but about an hour outside of Tokyo.

Kanae snickered.  “I don’t think they care.  But this is it.  Once we wrap here today, we’re done.  No more scenes for the movie and back to our normal, pink jumpsuit-less lives.”

“If the president hears you say that then he’ll just find another way for them to return,” Chiori sighed.

“Moko-saaaaaaan!”  Kyoko was running toward them at high speeds.

“I haven’t seen her this elated in months.”  Chiori snorted.  “At least she isn’t running at me.”

Kanae grabbed the shorter woman and pushed her in front of her.

“HEY!”

“Moko-san! That was mean.”  Kyoko was pouting, but her eyes were still shining.

“Did something good happen?”

She nodded.  “So very good.  Togo-san saw the footage that I filmed yesterday and said he would wait as long as needed in order to finish the production.  Which means we can wait until we get the permits back for the first location, since Director Shingai liked that location better than the secondary one we were going to shoot at next week!”

“If the news is so good, why does Yashiro-san look so disgruntled?”

Kyoko looked over her shoulder and then back.  “Two reasons.  First, we had a disagreement about acting methods--”

“Otherwise known as ‘Kyoko-chan did something stupid that makes her manager hate her for at least a week.’  I’ve become very familiar with this reaction lately.”  Kanae sighed.

Kyoko stuck her tongue out.  “And second, I won’t let him tell Ren said stupid thing I did.”

“Are you sure you’re actually twenty?”

“Yes?”  Kyoko smiled.  “I think I might actually enjoy filming today.”

*~*~*

“It’s like night and day.  We’ve been here for a little more than a week, and that girl has just been glaring or distant with everyone but the other two Japanese girls. And then today this.”  Taylor pointed at Kyoko and Jenny laughing and talking.

Kuon smiled.  “Something good must have happened.”  He had no idea what it was, but whatever had given Kyoko some of her cheer back was good in his book. Though looking at Yashiro, he might have to reconsider that statement.  He seemed positively annoyed.  The only time he saw that particular look on his manager’s face was when he put himself in a dangerous position for no other reason than a good take.

He was glad that Kyoko had more good sense than he did.

“Think she would tell me if I ask?”

“Who knows.”  He watched as Taylor went to insinuate himself into the conversation between Kyoko and the other actress, then pointedly turned away and headed to get something to drink.  He really needed to stop watching her, even if today was the last day he’d see her until he got back from LA.

Yashiro was hanging around the craft services table.

“Hello, Yashiro-san, correct?”

He nodded.  “That’s right.  Hizuri-san.”

He grabbed a bottle of water and opened it, taking a long swallow.  “Taylor was just commenting on how happy Kyoko-san seemed today compared to the previous days.”

“She received some good news about the drama that she is currently working on.  Her acting yesterday was better than even the director could imagine.”

The disapproval was practically dripping off every word.  He was really wishing that he could find out what happened.

“You’ll have to pass on my congratulations.  Working with Kyoko-san, Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san has really shown me how talented the actresses are here.”

Yashiro turned and gave him a small smile as he tugged his gloves on and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.  “I will.  If you’ll excuse me.”

Kuon nodded and took another drink of water as Yashiro walked away.  For someone who wasn’t a professional actor, he wasn’t doing too bad a job in pretending to not know who he was.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out.  

_Due to some circumstances regarding Kyoko-chan’s shoot yesterday, I was only able to process half the list.  I came across three unidentified key swipes so far._

Kuon looked up from the screen.  The cards had to be from management.  He knew that one was due to a plumbing problem from the apartment above him.  He’d been able to arrange for them to come in while he’d been working after he had a chance to clear some things out and put them in his safe.  He wasn’t so sure about the other two.

_I think I know what one is, but I’d have to see the date.  Send me the information on the three you have and I will put in a request with the building management._

*~*~*

 _Fly safe and good luck in London and L.A.. Just this once I decided to break the rules._ Ꮚ❛ꈊ❛Ꮚ

Kuon smiled, he couldn’t help himself.  Kyoko had sent him a text message and she’d even put in the sheep emoji.  He couldn’t even remember when or why she’d started using the sheep emoji, but it had quickly become a shorthand for “I love you and want to give you a hug” between them.  It was probably related to his pillow.

Ꮚ❛ꈊ❛Ꮚ.

He pressed send.

“Sooooooomething good?”

Kuon blinked and looked over at Jenny before putting his phone away in his pocket.  They were just getting out of the van when his phone had gone off.  “You could say that.”

“Must be his girlfriend.”  Taylor patted Jenny on her head.  “I was starting to think you made the whole thing up to shut me up.”

“Girlfriend?”  Jenny pouted.

“Yeah, guy is taken.  You’ll just have to soothe your broken heart with me.”

She rolled her eyes.  “Not interested.”  She still linked an arm through Kuon’s as they walked toward security.  “I want to know all the details.”

“There aren’t any.”

“She doesn’t even have a name?”

That was an unexpectedly tough question that he didn’t know how to answer.  They’d just worked with Kyoko for a week, and if he said her name was Kyoko would they put the pieces together?

“Fine.  Just an initial?” He’d been quiet for too long

“K.”  It was something. He still had to work with them for another month; freezing them out completely just wasn’t an option.  And he really didn’t want to.

“You will!  What is it?”

“K.”

“Oh!”  Jenny dropped his arm.  “K.  Hmm.  Kim?  I don’t know, you don’t look like a guy interested in Kims.  What about Kourtney?”

“It’s Khloe. Or maybe Kylie.”

“Kendall?”

His two fellow actors couldn’t stop laughing at their little joke.  Or maybe he did.  He shook his head, but he smiled.

*~*~*

Kyoko smiled as she hung her Love Me uniform back up.  The almost week and a half had been awful, but the end, that shoot in the pond had fixed it all.  And she’d managed it on her own.

The door opened.  “Kyoko-senpai, you _have_ to see this.”

Kyoko closed the locker on her Love Me uniform.  With any luck she wouldn’t be donning it again until her current drama shoot ended.  She turned to face Chiori and stopped.

She was holding a picture of Kuon from one of his modelling jobs.  Kyoko couldn’t look away.

“Right?”  Chiori set it down on the large table in the center of the room.  “I thought I’d look him up, since he’s Japanese acting royalty adjacent, see what he’s been doing.  I figured nepotism had to have played some role in his career.  Did you know that he only seriously started working in the industry maybe a year and a half ago?”

Kyoko shook her head.

“It’s insane.  Apparently, he did some small roles on American cable when he was a teenager, but mostly he got fired a lot and then he disappeared.  People think that his parents must have sent him overseas to boarding school or something, but there’s no information.  So then, he suddenly starts to work as a model and he’s good.  I mean just look at that.”

Kyoko wasn’t sure that she wanted to look at that picture again.  Her resolve could only take so much, and he was _so very shirtless_ in that picture.  She’d already broken the rules when she texted him.  “It’s really something.”

“Don’t be like that.  You know it’s good.”

“What’s good?”  Yashiro walked into the Love Me department.

“Chiyorin was looking into Hizuri-san’s work background.”  Kyoko paused.  “I thought I was meeting you in your office?”

Yashiro completely ignored her question and was staring at the picture Chiori had brought in.  “Is that Hizuri Kuon?”

“Oh, yes, it is.  You type his name in a search engine, and that one and a Calvin Klein advertisement are the first two to come up. I went with the less risque option.”

“You’re being uncharacteristically nice, Chiyorin.”

Chiori crossed her arms.  “I mean, he was nice to us and was really helpful and I thought since he was Kuu’s son, he might have done work in Japan, and I wanted to know just how much did being Hizuri Kuu’s son matter to his career.  And it turned out barely at all!  It’s ridiculous. He took those modelling jobs and used them to land a couple of commercials and from there some guest spots on American network TV.  Now he has a movie.”

“He must have a really good manager.”  Yashiro sat down.

“No manager or agent.  Or at least there is none listed.  He’s on the books as a free agent.  It’s really impressive.  I mean, even I’m impressed, and that doesn’t happen easily.  There’s absolutely nothing to complain about.”  Chiori paused.  “Actually, that part is kind of annoying.  So maybe there’s something to complain about after all.”

*~*~*

Kyoko looked down at her hands once Chiori left.

“Had you not seen…?”  Yashiro sat down next to her.  He was amazed at the sheer amount of work that Ren… no, Kuon had put into establishing his career, knowing the amount of time that Ren wasn’t exclusively working in Japan had been up to this point rather limited.  A weekend here, four days there.

Kyoko shook her head.  “I knew, but I didn’t want to see it.”

Yashiro frowned.  “Do you not like the way he looks as Kuon?”

“Without the dyed hair and contacts?  I like it just fine.  It doesn’t matter to me. No, that’s not it.”  She sighed.

“What is it, then?”

“Did Ren ever tell you why we took a break?”

Yashiro shook his head.

“He wanted to go public with our relationship and I didn’t.  In fact, I was adamantly against it.”

“What?”

Kyoko laughed.  It was quiet and bitter and sad.  “He’d pretty much always wanted to go public with our relationship once it wasn’t a new thing anymore.  He’d bring up going to events or parties or premieres together like it was nothing.  And I always rebuffed him unless it had been something we’d both worked on together, because people knew that we were friends, so if we were both supposed to attend, it wouldn’t seem out of place if we arrived together.”  She shook her head.  “You remember that charity event a few months ago?”

Yashiro nodded.  “It’s a huge deal.  Everyone attends.”

“Exactly.  I was talking to him about how I went with Moko-san to look at dresses.  She got an invitation for this year, and I mentioned to Ren that I was a little bit jealous that Moko-san was getting to attend but I wasn’t.  He just looked at me and said that of course I was going to go.  I was going with him.  That we’d been together for two years, and it just made sense that I would go with him.”

“It wasn’t the assumption that I could go with him if I wanted, it was the idea that my attendance with him was even something that should be allowed.  It wasn’t.  You see, he’s Ren and I’m just me.”

Yashiro opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything.  Kyoko wasn’t even looking at him and he had a feeling that if he interrupted her, she’d just stop talking and change the subject.

“At one point, I had actually started considering it.  Going to an event or something with him.  I felt like I had finally put in enough time and work.  I was an established actress with a small fan base.  I was steadily working.  I had built up a rapport with multiple directors for both commercials and dramas.  I still wasn’t the ideal partner for him, but maybe I could be forgiven for loving him.”

Kyoko’s eyes were closed and she was grimacing.  He wanted to ask who she needed forgiveness from, but closed his mouth when she started talking again.

“Then he told me that he was going to start working as Kuon overseas and about the jobs that he’d already lined up.  Ones he’d secured representing himself.  They were mostly model jobs, but there was a commercial as well for a Japanese brand that was expanding to the overseas market.  And I realised that yet again he was out of my reach.”  She took a deep breath. “So I went back to rebuffing his attempts, but he was starting to get frustrated with me and I knew that I had a deadline until he was completely fed up, so I tried even harder.  I got the part in that detective drama that aired late last year as the second lead and I landed a contract for a national brand, and then the lead in the drama special a few months ago.  People were routinely recognising me.  I felt that I just had a bit more to go and then everyone would be all right if I was with him.”

“Kyoko, no one would say anything--”

She turned a hard gaze on him.  “You think so?  You think that his fans would be all right?  That the actresses he works with would be?  If you do, you’re wrong.”

“How do you know?”

Yet another bitter laugh.  “Because I’ve lived it once already.  The whole reason I hated those ‘bully’ roles I kept getting when I first started was because I lived with the contempt of Sho’s fans before he was even famous.  I was incessantly bullied from the time that girls could even form crushes.  At first, it was because I was the only girl he talked to, then it was because I was living at the ryokan.  It was awful.  I didn’t have a single friend who wasn’t Sho until Moko-san.”  She looked down at her hands.  “After all that I even dared to think that I could walk next to Ren?  No.  Even on the set of _Dark Moon_ years ago, I realised it couldn’t happen.  I was nothing and he was everything.  I heard the girls whispering on set about how **_jealous_ ** they were that I was **_stalked_ ** because it made Ren worry about me.”

She stretched her arms out as if trying to reach the other side of the table, then gave up.

“When he said that about the charity event, he had just told me about getting the part in this movie.  A Hollywood Summer Blockbuster.”  She looked at Yashiro. There were tears in the corner of her eyes.  “On the one hand I was so proud of him, but on the other… How?  How was I ever supposed to catch up to him now?  So I told him it was impossible.”

“That you go with him?”

“Yes.  And then I discovered that the deadline I’d been trying to beat had arrived.  He was so angry at me and said that I was being stupid.  That he’d been patient for **_two years_ ** and that if I loved him, I would just go with him.  That he wanted to take me.  That he was proud to be with me, and that he was tired of dealing with how ridiculous I was being over the whole thing.  It was just an event.  And we fought worse than we ever had.  It all spiralled out of control and we said things that really hurt each other.  At the end, we found ourselves standing among the ruins of our relationship and I just walked out.”  She had tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Do you still love him?”

Kyoko sighed.  “Always.”  She looked at Yashiro. He didn’t know if he’d ever seen such an intensity in her eyes.  “But I couldn’t go back, and I couldn’t resist either.  In some ways being in love with Ren is like a drug; the highs are wonderful, but withdrawal is the worst.  So instead of forever, he convinced me to just wait until this movie was finished filming.  It wouldn’t be that bad because he’d have to travel a lot for it, so if we were on a break it wouldn’t matter.”

“I thought it would give me time to at least try to get closer to where he is, so I agreed.  There is no catching up, but right then I felt like there was such an immense gulf between us, I had to make it at least somewhat smaller.  Even if the difference before and after was perceptible only to me.  I had to do my best, because when this break is over, I need to be able to make him proud that I’m the one he’s standing next to because I can’t refuse him anymore.”

Yashiro sighed.  “That’s why you did it.  You tossed your good sense out the window for the shot because you’re trying to catch up to Ren.  Kyoko-chan, your manager had been worried you were going to collapse you were working so hard.  And now I’m managing you and _I’m_ worried you might collapse.  I’ve managed Ren, and your current schedule is worse.”

“I know.  The poor woman.  I’m glad that she’s on maternity leave now and doesn’t have to deal with the sheer amount of stubbornness I’ve been exhibiting lately.  I really should have been nicer to her since she was pretty miserable the last couple of months before her leave started, but I have a hard deadline.  A little more than three weeks.”

Yashiro patted her hand.  “You really don’t have to try so hard.  Ren already is proud of you.  And Ren’s fans love him and when they realise how happy you make him…”

Kyoko pressed her lips into a tight line.  “Yashiro-san?”

“What?”

“Did you already forget about the vandalism?”

He sighed.  She had a point, maybe… “But it was just one fan.”

“One fan who somehow found out.”  She took a deep breath.  “Just put aside the fact that he has a seriously deranged stalker for just this one second.  The one person who has discovered our relationship and isn’t already friends with us reacted by pasting a picture of me up on a location I was supposed to be shooting at and spray painted the word ‘WHORE’ over my face.”

Yashiro tried to find an argument to counter her, but he couldn’t.  Maybe given time, but right then, looking at the raw emotion on Kyoko’s face, he didn’t have words.

*~*~*

“One of my friends is currently in London.  He’s a big financier of the Japanese entertainment industry.”

“Okay.”  Kuon flipped through the script for tomorrow’s shoot while he pinned the phone to his ear with his shoulder.  “What exactly do you want me to do with that information?”

Kuu sighed through the earpiece.  “He’s hosting a party tonight at his loft.  I told him that you were in London shooting a movie, and he wants you to go.”

Kuon grabbed the phone so it would be more stable and closed the script.  “You told him that of course I would be there, didn’t you?”

“I’ve known him since I was Shuuhei.”

“That is the most indirect answer I’ve ever heard you give.  You’re usually so much more straightforward when directly asked a question.”

“You’ve always been the exception to that rule since you left for Japan.  Just go, all right?  What’ll it hurt?”

“I’m not part of the entertainment industry in Japan.  What if I actually run into someone who knows me?  This double life thing I’m doing at the moment isn’t actually infallible.  If I’m recognized it’ll complicate the whole movie thing.  I wasn’t going to merge the two until after the release.”

“Everything is different when you’re that guy not just your hair and eyes.  Your voice, your gait, the way you hold yourself.  You seem like a different person because you inhabit the role of that guy with your whole body.  No one will recognise you.  Besides, it’ll probably just be a bunch of his friends in the finance circuit.”

“You really want me to go?”  Kuon sighed.

“Please?  How often have I had a chance to show off my son in the last _nine years_?”

“You aren’t even here to show me off.”

Kuu laughed.  “I did it in advance.  Told him all about the modelling and commercials and how you landed this movie role on your own because you didn’t want your old man’s help.”

Kuon closed his eyes.  “Fine.”

“Fine, you’ll go?”

“Yes, fine, I’ll go.”

“I’ll email you the information.  Dress sharp.  We’ll see you next week.  Love you.”

*~*~*

“We were just going to grab some quick food and do the tourist thing.  Aren’t you dressed a little overkill for that?”

Kuon sighed.  The rest of the cast from Tokyo and the other actress who was joining them here in London were all chilling out in the lobby.  “I forgot.  You’ll have to do the tourist thing without me.”

“But I came up with a longer list of ‘K’ names that don’t belong to the Kardashians.”

He laughed.  “Sorry.  I have to go and play being my father’s son at a party a friend of his is throwing.  Hirokawa or something.  Apparently, he’s a big name in financing the Japanese entertainment industry.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound as fun.  Enjoy yourself.”  Taylor went back to playing some _Candy Crush_ -like game on his phone.

*~*~*

“You must be really excited to go back home after all this time.”

Sho smiled and nodded.  “Yes.  I haven’t been back to Japan for more than a week or two at a time for more than a year.”

“Still, a world tour at your age! You’re still so young.”

“Thank you.  It wasn’t originally planned to be a world tour.  We were working on going through Southeast Asia and then a song of mine became popular overseas, so since the touring was already underway, my agency just expanded it.”

Shoko smiled next to him.  “It really is a major accomplishment, though.”

The older gentleman who they were talking with looked over Sho’s shoulder.  “I’m sorry, someone just arrived who I must greet.”

They all bowed, and Sho and Shoko were alone in the corner again.

“Why do I have to do this stupid party again?  It’s a bunch of banking guys who don’t even live in Japan anymore.”

“And whose daughters all love you.  Or did you forget that stack of CDs and posters that you were signing when we first got here?”

Sho sighed and looked around.  He was by far the best-looking guy here, but all the women were either older or trophy wives.  There was absolutely no one he could even try to hook up with.  And his bed had been awfully lonely since Mimori had left him in Germany instead of continuing on through Europe like she’d planned a couple of weeks ago.  His gaze stopped at the site of a group gathering by the door.

“What’s going on?”

Shoko shook her head.  “I have no idea.”  The group parted to show a late arrival.  “Oh, well, _he’s_ new.”

Even Sho could hear the admiration in her voice.

“That’s what you go for now?  Pretty blonds?”

She turned her smile on him.  “Aren’t you a pretty blond?”  One of the attendees was heading over there and she managed to catch his attention.  “Excuse me.  I’m so sorry, but who is that?”

He smiled.  “That is Hizuri Kuon.  Kuu’s son.  He’s in London filming a movie and agreed to come.  Excuse me, I must say hello.”

“Kuon? Never heard of him.”  Sho leaned against the wall and crossed his legs out in front of him.

“I have, but only in association with his father.  He’s been out of the spotlight since he was a young teenager.  Guess he decided to get into the business.  He must be in his mid-twenties now.  I wonder if he’s available.”

“I bet he was one of those spotty, ugly teens.  Probably hid away in a dark room for years and his parents were embarrassed to be seen with him.  The acne medication must have finally started working.”

“Shut up, Sho, he’s coming this way.” He watched as Shoko put on her best smile.

“Ah, good, Fuwa-kun. You’re still here.”  Hirokawa approached with the other tall blond in attendance.  “Fuwa-kun, this is Hizuri Kuon.”  He motioned to the man next to him.  “Hizuri-san, this is Fuwa Sho.  He’s a Visual Kei artist on a world tour at the moment.”

A brief flicker of surprise crossed Hizuri’s face.  “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”  He bowed.

The Japanese was fluent, but accented.   He’d never make it in Japan.  Sho smiled and held out his hand.  “Likewise.  This is how they do it in America, isn’t it?”

The other man took his hand in a firm handshake.  “It is.”

“Well then, I’ll leave you two to talk for a bit since I’m sure you young ones will have more in common than the rest of us.  Excuse me.”

Kuon looked at Shoko.  “I’m Kuon, and you are?”  He smiled.

“Shoko Aki.”  She smiled back.

It was like flowers were blooming around his manager’s head. It made him sick.  “Shoko, get me something to drink.”

“Fine.  Can I get you anything while I’m over there, Hizuri-san?”

“No, I would never think to send a lady to fetch me a drink.  This isn’t the Dark Ages.”

She laughed.  “I’m his manager.  It’s to be expected.  Really, let me get you something.”

He smiled and bowed his head.  “Fine then, but only because you insist.  A whisky on the rocks, please.”  He turned his head to watch as she walked away.

Sho glared at him.  “She’s not available.”

“Oh? I didn’t see a ring.”  The jerk had a self-satisfied smile on his face that just made Sho want to punch him.

“Doesn’t matter. She’s still not available.  Especially to someone like you.”

Kuon blinked.  “Someone like me?”

“A pretty boy with no talent riding your father’s coattails into stardom.”

“I didn’t.  I just decided, since it’s the family business, I’d try my hand at it before I figured out what I really wanted to do with my life.  Next thing I knew I was cast in a Hollywood action movie.  Who knew that the entertainment business would be so easy to break into?”

*~*~*

And who knew that the same thing that would annoy him would work to needle that pompous prick.  Kuon kept his smile firmly in place.  The last person he expected to run into in London of all places was Fuwa.  The rat bastard was like a plague.  One which he thought they were finally done with, since he hadn’t been bothering Kyoko for the better part of a year.

Turns out that he was just on tour.

Shoko-san returned with their drinks and Kuon took his, making sure to let his touch linger just a bit too long.  It really was fun watching how annoyed Sho got when someone “played with his things” as long as the “thing” in question wasn’t Kyoko.  “Thank you.”

Shoko blushed.  “You’re welcome.”  She held a glass out to Sho.  “Your happoshu.”  She didn’t look at Sho and kept her eyes trained on him.  “What are you two discussing?”

“Oh, just how I decided to enter the entertainment industry a little over a year ago on a whim and now I’m in a movie.”  Kuon laughed.  

“Just over a year ago?  That’s amazing progress.”

“Isn’t it?  We just spent just over a week filming in Tokyo and I thought that maybe I should look into working there as well.  I do speak the language, after all.”

“Ha! As if the Japanese would like your look.  You’re too American.”

“Sho!”

“Hmm, perhaps he’s right.  Though my father did better than all right.  And there are plenty of entertainers that bleach their hair to go blond.”  He looked pointedly at Fuwa’s blond hair.  “Actually, I think I might fare well, and if there’s a chance to work with that actress Kyoko again…”

Sho’s eyes narrowed.  “What actress?”  

Kuon smiled.  “There was an actress we worked with in Tokyo named Kyoko, maybe you’ve heard of her?  Quite beautiful really.  She definitely didn’t mind that I looked so... American.”  He paused and tilted his head to the side like he was remembering something and smiled.  “Definitely didn’t mind, or I’m sure she wouldn’t have let me kiss her when we were alone on the set.”

The sharp intake of breath came before the lunge, but Shoko had grabbed Sho’s shirt and threw him off balance while Kuon took a large step to the side.

He let confusion cover his face.  “Was it something I said?  Do the Japanese not have casual relationships?”

“Casual…”  Sho’s hand was in a tight fist.  So he did still care about Kyoko.

“Sorry.  You just touched on a sore spot.  That actress is a… childhood friend of his.”

“Oh. Really?  I had no idea.  She was so beautiful just standing there, I just couldn’t resist.  To have grown up with such a girl, you must have fallen for her yourself.”

And that was the crux of Sho’s issues with his relationship with Kyoko.  He’d never known what he’d had until she was gone and cursing him with every fiber of her being.  Kuon knew from his own recent experience how much it stung, and they’d only been broken up for a week before he’d apologized.  She didn’t even hate him, but the ignoring had been awful.  He’d probably wish for her wrath, too.

*~*~*

Kuon collapsed onto his hotel bed face down.  What had he been thinking?  He’d behaved like an _ass_.

He’d been annoyed at his father for making him go to that party in the first place, and then only to find out it had been to celebrate a successful world tour for Kyoko’s ex.  Ugh.  It was something that Kyoko would have done to anger Fuwa; he was supposed to be above such pettiness.

At least he thought he was.  He’d never actually had to deal with Sho in a way where real direct confrontation was in play.  There was always a mitigating circumstance, usually Kyoko, that let him keep most of his anger in check.  Though technically he didn’t lose his cool, he just pressed the buttons that he knew would set Fuwa off.  

He thought that after four years his emotions as Kuon would be more stable, and for the most part they were, but without his mask of “Ren” acting as a stopgap, things were definitely harder.  First with filming in Tokyo and being around Kyoko everyday when their relationship was very much not where he wanted it to be, and now running into Fuwa in London.

If the president had been around, he would have told Kuon that he wasn’t ready for this.  And right now, he agreed.  How could he expect to merge the two sides of his life next year if his “true” self still ran so hot?  He groaned.  He’d have to text his father and tell him to never do that to him again.

He didn’t even want to think about Kyoko finding out.  They were so close to this stupid break actually being over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I've fallen into a pretty regular Saturday and Tuesday update schedule, and I should be able to keep that up for the most part. Except for next Saturday when I'll be out of the country with my husband who is going to a convention for his comic.
> 
> I really should redo the summary -- the current one works, but it could be better. I'll get there eventually. I have actually written out the whole White Day fight that Yashiro refers to in the last chapter (along with some other little stand alone one shots), but I'm not sure if anyone has any interest in them beyond me. *embarrassed*


	5. Awkward Conversations and Sprained Relationships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm not posting this weekend (see last chapter's note) I'm posting a double length chapter today. Enjoy! And I'll have a little stand alone, but related story that I'm going to put up Friday, I think. :)

Kanae walked with Yashiro onto the set and they stood off to the side.  They could see Kyoko sitting on the floor of a set, trying to build some piece of furniture.  She was laughing and her co-star was leaning over her from behind, putting the piece in the right spot.

He leaned in and kissed her on her neck and Kyoko moved away while a pale blush covered her face. She smiled at him.  The actor reached out and tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers.

“Great.  Can we get something on the couch?”

Her co-star -- Araki-kun, if Kanae remembered right -- stood up and offered his hand to Kyoko who took it. Together, they headed over to a different area of the set that was more set up like a living room.

“Ah, Yashiro-san, we’re running a bit behind.  Kyoko-chan and Araki-kun are still working on montage shots with the second director.”  Director Shingai walked over to them.  “They’re coming out really well; he’ll be directing on his own before long, though it helps to have him work with Kyoko.  She’s stringing that young man along perfectly.”

Kanae exchanged a look with Yashiro.  It looked a little too perfect.

“She knows exactly how to get the reactions I want, so I’m just letting them work.  I’m just glad that I could find an actor that came close to the intensity of the chemistry I wanted with her.  Though it almost didn’t happen.”

“Almost?”

Shingai nodded.  “When I first found this script and read it, I knew that I had _finally_ found the piece that I wanted for Kyoko-chan to star in.  I’ve been thinking about casting her in something since I first worked with her back when she just entered the industry and wasn’t even interested in acting yet.”  He smiled.  “She was in as soon as I explained the drama, so then I just needed my leading man, and I knew exactly who would have the level of chemistry I wanted.  Unfortunately, I got shot down immediately.”

Kanae was surprised.  Director Shingai wasn’t the sort of director that someone would refuse out of hand.  She was about to say something to that effect when Yashiro hung his head.

“ _This_ was the drama you called about?  It was this one with Kyoko-chan?”

“It was Tsuruga-kun?”

Shingai nodded.  “They don’t work together very often, and when they do I don’t think they’ve ever worked directly opposite each other, but I’ve already seen a glimmer of that chemistry. Given The Rumor, I was sure they would have been perfect.  Instead, we had to do three days of chemistry tests with ten actors and settled on the one who was halfway in love with her.  I’ve told Kyoko-chan to be gentle when she turns him down.  At least until filming is done.”

Kanae blinked.  “The rumor?  Don’t you mean a rumor?  And what rumor is it?”

“It’s definitely The Rumor.  It’s been such a persistent rumor I’m surprised you haven’t heard it.  Supposedly, Kyoko-chan and Ren have been together for almost three years now.  It has faded now and again, but it always pops back up that they are the industry’s best-kept secret.”  Shingai narrowed his eyes at Yashiro.  “Can I actually get a confirmation?”

He shook his head.  “I can honestly tell you that they are not together.”  Kanae could hear the _anymore, or at least at the moment_ that he left unsaid.

“I was so sure too given his reaction when he stopped by the set before leaving the country.  Ah well.  When those two do work together in a love scene, I’m sure the results will be amazing.”

Kyoko was jogging over to them.  She’d tossed a sweater over the thin shirt she was wearing.  She quickly bowed.  “I’m sorry that we’re running over on time, Yashiro-san, Moko-san.  We are almost done.”  She turned to Shingai.  “Director, Hirose-san wanted your opinion on something in the playback.”

Shingai excused himself and walked away.

“How’s the filming?”

She looked back over her shoulder where Araki-kun had gotten pulled into looking at the playback while the two directors pointed things out to him.  “His blocking needs work and he seems a bit unfocused on the scenes today.  So things are taking a little longer.  Since the scenes aren’t scripted, I think he’s a bit lost.”

“I think he’s a bit smitten.”

Kyoko sighed.  “Yes, even I can tell.  I almost feel bad about it.”

“Almost?”

She turned to look back to look at Kanae.  “I might feel slightly more charitable if he’d stop calling me that ridiculous nickname.”

As if summoned, Araki-kun was coming over.  “Ko-ko-chaaan!  Director Shingai wants us to do the beginning of the scene in bed again.  He says it’s off and won’t merge well.  Not the whole scene, just the beginning.”

Kanae had shifted so that she was standing behind the actor.  “Ko-ko-chan?” she mouthed.

“All right.  Let me talk to him.  Excuse me, I’ll be back.”  She shook her head at Kanae as she walked by.  “Don’t.”

Even though she tried to muffle it, Kanae couldn’t stop the laughter bubbling up.  “Oh my god.   **_Ko-ko-chan_ **.  I think I have finally found the perfect retaliatory nickname.  Years.  I’ve been searching for years and it’s just been handed to me.”

*~*~*

Kuon followed the rest of his castmates off the plane and yawned.  He still had almost three more weeks of filming here in LA, but he was already exhausted.

“Where’s your apartment? I can drop you off on my way home.”  Taylor was pulling a set of car keys out of his pocket.

“I’m heading out to Malibu.  Promised my parents I’d be home for dinner.”  Kuon sighed and shook his head.  He was really hoping that it was his father’s turn to cook and not his mother’s.

“You still live with your parents?”  He could hear the amusement in his co-star’s voice.

“Not at all, but then I don’t live in LA.”

“Ah.  So much makes sense now.  You’re a New Yorker.  I get it.  See you Monday! Enjoy the traffic!”

Kuon watched as Taylor headed toward long term parking before he turned to find a cab.  The assumption didn’t surprise him, and in a way it made sense.  Given a choice between the two cities, he probably would have picked New York.  No one would have thought that he actually lived in Tokyo instead, and he wasn’t enlightening them either.

Halfway to the cabs he ran into his father, surrounded by a gaggle of people signing autographs and taking pictures.  It would have been impossible to miss him.  The thought that maybe he should just keep walking crossed his mind, but then the look that his father would get if he did that made him sigh and he stopped a bit away from the commotion.

This could take awhile, so he took out his phone.  He flipped through his messages.  There was the email chain between him and Yashiro about how to proceed with the unknown cards, something he’d have to deal with tonight, but nothing further from Kyoko since her last message before he left Tokyo.  His heart sank a little.  He’d been hoping for another sheep emoji.  Or even just a “good flight”.  He wondered if Fuwa was back in Japan yet, and that was why he hadn’t heard anything.  Or if Fuwa was back in Japan, maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t heard anything.

Really, he just missed Kyoko.

“Did I keep you waiting long?”

Kuon looked up.  “No.  Though I’m still wondering what you’re doing here.”

His father smiled.  “I’m here to pick my dear son up from the airport!”  He slung his arm around his shoulders and they started walking toward the parking garage.  The number of eyes that were on him doubled or tripled, and he shifted away from his father’s grasp.

Kuu frowned.

“Sorry.  I just forgot how invasive celebrity culture is here.  It’s a whole different level from Tokyo.”

“Yeah, I know, but you’ll get used to it.”

Kuon looked over at his father as he dug into his pocket for a set of keys.  “What car did you bring?”

“The Ferrari, why?”

Kuon held out his hand.  “I’m driving.”

*~*~*

Kuon revved the engine and opened the throttle.  He couldn’t go incredibly fast without really breaking the law, but the handling was still smooth.  There was just something about driving fast down a beach road that helped to clear his head.

“So I can have the Viper while I’m here, right?”  Kuon smiled over at his father.

“Your mother would prefer if you drove something more…”

“Boring?”

“Like the Mercedes.”

“And I’d prefer to borrow the Koenigsegg, but that isn’t happening either.  The Viper is a good solid choice.”

Kuu laughed.  “Just don’t wrap it around a tree.”

*~*~*

Kuon jogged with his mother down the block.  “You know, when I left it was morning yoga on the beach and spin classes.  Now you run in the mornings?”

“And I go to Zumba twice a week.”  Juliena smiled.

Kuon just stared straight ahead and didn’t say anything.  His mother had always loved her fitness trends.  He would have preferred to run on the beach, but by going with his mother he could maybe get some “bonding time” -- as she called it -- out of the way without having to be interrogated about his _lack_ of phone usage.  He really didn’t want to have to explain to them what was going on with Kyoko.

“Julie!”  A young woman’s voice called to them and Kuon started jogging backwards to see who it was.  She was about his age, with her brown hair done up in a jaunty ponytail, and was pushing a stroller as she jogged.  “KUON!”  He knew that voice.

“Miranda?”

She caught up to them.  “It is you.  You kinda look like your dad a bit from the back now.  I thought it was strange he was running with your mom.”

He turned to look at his mother.  “You jog with Miranda?”

“Yep!  Miranda and Charlotte are my jogging buddies.”  His mother bent down to say hello to the little girl in the stroller who just giggled.

“You jog with my ex-girlfriend?”

Miranda laughed.  “Your mom is a great jogging buddy and Charly loves her.”  

“It’s not like I have a daughter-in-law to jog with.”  The side-eye was strong with his mother this morning.

“It’s not like I’m even twenty-five yet. Or live in LA.”

Miranda laughed.  The three adults turned down one of the quieter streets.  “I didn’t even realise you were home visiting.  Or that you visited home at all, actually.”

“Ah, I’m not visiting. I’m in town for work.”

“He’s co-starring with Taylor James in that new action movie.”

“Does Taylor take his shirt off?”

Kuon sighed.  “Every chance he can.”

“Do you?”  Miranda was biting her bottom lip in order to not laugh.

“A handful of times.”

His ex-girlfriend looked him up and down before turning to his mother.  “That movie is going to make a lot of money.”

His mother and Miranda exchanged smiles and Kuon wished that the Earth would just swallow him.  Why did he think that this would be better than answering questions about his love life?

“Oh, don’t be so embarrassed.  You wore less in your Armani Jeans and CK ads.”

He sighed.  There really was no hell like having your looks appraised by your mother and the girlfriend you had when you were fourteen.

“Modelling?  For CK? I can’t picture it.  The Kuon I knew?  Just no.  I think I’m going to have to google it when I get home.”  Miranda pulled out a water bottle and took a drink.

“Why don’t you two go on ahead, and I’ll run with Charly.”  Juliena smiled.

Kuon didn’t wait.  He wanted out of that conversation, so he stretched his legs out and sped up.  He was a little surprised that Miranda caught up so quickly.  

“Nope, can’t escape that easily.  I run the half marathon every year now.”  She smiled and took a breath.  “I’m surprised you decided to run with your mother instead of on the beach where it’s quiet.”

“I was trying to avoid her questions about my love life, but have discovered that an even worse conversation could be had.”

She laughed.  “You know that she still talks you up every chance she gets?”

“You’ve already seen the ads.”

She nodded.  “Oh yeah.  She made sure that I saw them.  But she’s still super sweet.  I think she even DVR’d your guest spots on those network shows.”

He groaned and slowed down when they hit a large fountain in a nearby park so that he could dump some cold water on the back of his neck and over his head.

Miranda held out her water bottle and he shook his head.  “I’m good.”

“Suit yourself.  So why are you avoiding talking to your mother about your love life?  Is she trying to set you up?”

“No.  I’m seeing someone who my mother actually adores.  It’s more that she wants to know why I haven’t been messaging her every spare moment since I got here.”

“Did _she_ not like your ads?”  They started running again.  “‘Cause sex sells.  It’s a lazy advertisement strategy, but it works and she needs to learn.”

“No, she’s in the business, so she gets it.”  He sighed.  “We had an argument so…”

“About?”

Kuon was focused on the place inside his brain that was replaying their fight for the hundredth time.  “We’ve been together for over two years and she still doesn’t want to take our relationship public, and now I’m wondering how I can ask her to marry me when she won’t even go out in public with me if it can be misconstrued.”  If he went over it enough times then maybe he would understand what was going on.

Miranda slowed to a stop and he turned to look at her.  “Wow.  You did not mean for all of that to actually come out of your mouth, did you?”

He shook his head.   _Note to self: No more jogging with people._

“How? How did you manage to keep a relationship quiet for _two years_ in this industry?  Magic?”

“No.”  He sighed.  “She’s not in the business _here_.  Want to see a picture?”

She nodded and walked over to him as he flipped through his phone.  It was probably one of his favorite pictures of Kyoko, and she had no idea he had it or had even taken it.  She was lying on his couch on her stomach reading a script wearing one of his button down shirts with a loose belt around her waist as a dress.  Her bare feet were kicking up in the air and her nose was scrunched up in frustration.

“She’s really cute.”

He couldn’t help the smile.  “Yes, she is.”

“So how have you kept the tabloids from picking this up when you make that dopey of a face just looking at a picture of her.”

Why the hell not?  He was going to announce soon and she was friends with his mom, and they even used to be friends…  He flipped through a couple more pictures until he hit one of Kyoko and him going to a release party for one of the dramas that they’d worked on together.  One of the few times they could go out together.

“Who’s the guy?  A beard?”

Kuon shook his head.  “That’s me.”

She grabbed the phone and looked closely.  “No way.  Oh my god.  It is!  That is sooo weird.”

“I’ve been working in Japan since I left the States.  The industry is different there.  It’s not as difficult to have a private life if you’re _very_ careful.  There’s a rumor that circulates every now and then, but for the most part we’ve just ignored it.  Everyone knows we’re friends, so it’s easy to follow that line.”

They started to make a long turn back toward where they abandoned his mother.  

“Your parents have never mentioned that you work in Japan.”

“I work under a stage name there so I won’t be associated with my father, who has an insane amount of name recognition and avid fanbase.”

“So they only talk about the things you do under your real name.”

“Pretty much.  And I only started doing that recently.”  He lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face.  Some girls running in the opposite direction started giggling.  He smiled at them out of habit.

Miranda shook her head.  They were quiet and just ran for a bit before Miranda spoke.  “So what’s going to happen when your and Taylor James’s movie comes out?”

“I’ll have to ‘fess up to being Kuu’s son.  It’s why I wanted things more settled with her.”

“Good luck with that. He’s popular enough here, I can’t imagine what it’d be like there. Why doesn’t she want to go public anyways?”

“I wish I understood that myself.”

*~*~*

Chiori sat down at the table where Kyoko was drinking her tea while flipping through her script for a commercial series.  She’d done two out of four, and filming for the third one was coming up.

“Kyoko-senpai.”

She smiled and looked over.  “Why do you still call me that when you’re older than me?”

“Technically, we’re all still in the Love Me department, and I have a favor to ask and you’re more likely to just do it if I remind you that I’m your dear kouhai.”  She smiled cheekily and handed over a printout from a computer.  “Can you translate that?”

Kyoko looked down and sighed.  “Why?”

“We’re in the movie and I’m following the production.  Which means following Hizuri-san.”

Kyoko nodded.  “‘Then and Now.  After returning to L.A. to work on _Zero Day,_ Kuon Hizuri was seen with Miranda Rossiter, jogging in their Malibu neighborhood with his mother Juliena and Miranda’s young daughter, Charlotte.  A decade ago, these two were actually dating! But now it seems they’re just friends.  Miranda is a regular on relationship comedy _Workin’ It!_ ’”

Chiori sighed.  “So it’s just stupid gossip?”

Kyoko nodded and pointed to the dark blonde woman in the current photo.  “That’s his mother, Julie.”  She looked down at the picture. It wasn’t terribly flattering since both Kuon and Miranda were sweating from a run.  As for the past picture...  He was definitely a teenager, and it wasn’t even a couple shot.  It was a group of teens from the show he’d been working on at the time with her.  At least according to the caption.  He was kind of adorable in the dorkiest way.  “Sorry it wasn’t about the movie.”

“Why do they care about people jogging?  Is that seriously a thing?”

Kyoko chuckled.  “They keep taking Kuu’s picture when he gets coffee.  Every time.  He even told me about an actor that just wore the same outfit every day for _months_ so that the paparazzi couldn’t sell the pictures.”

“How much time do these people have on their hands, seriously?”  Chiori rolled her eyes and crumpled up to the paper to toss into the recycling bin.  “What a waste.”  Chiori looked over at the script Kyoko was working on.  Kyoko was writing down notes in the margins.  “Is that for the Nikka Whisky campaign?”

Kyoko nodded.  “We’re shooting the third commercial in the series starting at the end of the week.”

“Aren’t they releasing the first one soon?”

“I think sometime this week or next.  It’s getting an internet release first.”

*~*~*

Kyoko sighed and flopped over onto her back.  Another NG.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She was having more trouble than she expected getting into Tsukiko today.

“So that was pretty stilted.  Kyoko-chan?”  Shingai walked over to the bed where Kyoko and Araki-kun were.

“I just need to get into her headspace.”  She took a deep breath.

“Just remember, she’s sad.  She got terrible news from the doctor.”  He turned to Araki-kun.  “This scene is as much about comfort as it is about love.  Gentle.  Your character should almost be treating Tsukiko as if she’s fragile.  Like she’ll shatter.”

He nodded.

A makeup artist ran over to each of them to touch up their makeup and hair to starting point, since these scenes always led to the most mussing.  Kyoko closed her eyes as her face was fixed.

“Places!”

Kyoko got up onto her knees and faced Araki, who was lying down.

“And... Action!”

Araki-kun lifted his hand up, and she grasped it with both of hers and looked down.  She opened each finger of his hand until she could press a kiss into his palm, then closed them again as he sat up before tugging on his hand so that she could place it against her cheek.  She closed her eyes and sighed.  

“Tsukiko…”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers for a moment before angling in for a kiss.  The press of lips was soft and smooth as his hand went from her cheek to behind her head.  She let her hands fall to her sides as they kissed.  Eventually he drew her closer, lying back so that she was on top of him.  His hand rubbed large, slow circles on her back.

This take was going much better.

The door to the set slamming open ruined it.  It was further ruined by Sho shouting her name.

And she had thought she had _finally_ seen the last of him.

Shingai called cut even though he didn’t even have to, and sighed.

Sho looked as he always did when he wasn’t planning on being photographed, even surreptitiously.  He was wearing black skinny jeans and a white shirt under a black and grey hoodie.  He had a tight scarf around his neck.  A hat was in one hand and his blond hair was rather a mess from having it under the hat.  A pair of sunglasses dangled from his fingers in his other hand.

“Kyoko!  What the hell?”

She laid back on the bed for a moment before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.  “That’s my line.  What the hell, Sho?”

He stomped over and pushed one finger against her collarbone.  “Hizuri.”

Kyoko had schooled her face into a mask of annoyance, and had no intention of letting the surprise show on her face.  How did he even know that Kuon had been filming in Tokyo?  “What of it?”

“You’re saving yourself for me, remember?  Don’t let other men kiss you.”

She shoved him away.  “Saving myself?  “ _Other_ ” men?  Have you _lost_ your mind?”

Araki-kun made a sad little squeak behind her and Director Shingai was staring at her wide-eyed.

“No love until revenge.  That makes you _mine_ .  Not some two-bit American actor’s who thinks it’s all right to just go and kiss any girl.  You’re so naive.  Hizuri Kuon is a **_playboy_ **.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Ko-ko-chan?”

Sho’s eyes narrowed at the nickname.  She needed to get him off set.

“IT WAS FOR THE MOVIE!”  She threw her hands up in the air and stormed off.  She was going to kill him.  Fury rolled off her in waves and she grabbed her robe before leaving the set and heading to her dressing room.

Of course the two men followed her.  She turned on her heel in the doorway.  “You both are not invited to follow me.”  She pushed a finger _hard_ against Sho’s chest.  “Storming onto my set while I’m working, speaking possessively of me, getting riled up because of a role I had in a movie.  Has your brain leaked out of your ears?  Because I don’t want revenge against an idiot and that’s what you are, Sho, an idiot.”

She whipped her head around to look at her co-star.  “And you.  You knew I was working with Hizuri-san, don’t act so surprised.  What were _we_ doing when this idiot showed up? Everything’s an act, Araki-kun.   _Everything_.”  She went into her dressing room and slammed the door.

She heaved a few deep breaths.  That idiot almost ruined everything.

She didn’t want to lie.  Well, not to Araki-kun at any rate, but how?  How had Sho found out about that kiss?  

She went back over Sho’s words.  It sounded like he’d met Kuon.

The stupid, possessive ass.  Of course he wouldn’t have been able to resist needling Sho had they run into each other.  And of course it was her bad luck that they must have.  This drama was cursed.

*~*~*

Kuon rubbed his eyes and looked back at the computer screen.  “So, one, as I thought was management looking to see if there was any damage in the ceiling due to something with the plumbing upstairs from me.  The second one, 91568824, I was actually in the apartment for.  Management has started to require key swipes any time someone enters a tenant’s apartment for record-keeping purposes.  Which makes things easier.  The last one is the mystery.  Management knows who they are, but not why they were in my apartment.  They asked if I wanted an immediate termination and I told them to hold off, but that we’d be looking into the matter as well ourselves.”

Yashiro’s crisp voice came over the speaker of his cell.  “Do you have a name?”

“Kenmotsu Hiraki.  He works maintenance for the building.”

“The number is the same as the one who came in for the plumbing issue.”

“It’s the same man.”  Kuon sighed.  “He could have just gone in to check if the pipes were all right or something, so it could be justifiable, if still inappropriate and against building policy.  I’d rather not leap to conclusions about the people who work in my building.”

A different voice came over the speaker.  “Are you talking to Kuon?”

“Yes, we’re--”

Her voice went sweet.  Much too sweet.  “Give me the phone, Yashiro-san, please.”  There was a rustling.  “You stupid, pompous, possessive, egotistical ASS!”  Kyoko’s voice definitely was not sweet anymore.

Kuon pressed the speaker button on the interface to turn it off and put the cell to his ear.  He sighed.  “He’s back in Tokyo?”

“He’s back in Tokyo?  You don’t even need to ask what you did, you already know!   _How could you?!_ ”

“Kyoko…”  His voice was calm and measured.

“No, no.  You don’t get to try and calm me down when I’m mad at you!  I don’t want to talk to you.  I just needed to tell you that you’re an **_ass_**.”  

The rustling crackled over the connection.  And as if confirming his thoughts that she’d handed the phone back, Yashiro spoke.  “What did you do?”

He sighed.  “Fuwa was in London and I happened to run into him.”

“You said something without thinking about the consequences, didn’t you?”

“I may have mentioned that there was an actress on the set in Tokyo that I may have kissed. And her name.  And then some other things that could be misconstrued as it maybe being more than just a kiss...”

The line was quiet for a long time.  “I thought you wanted to get back together?  I thought there was a **_ring_ **.”

“She’s gone, right?  She left?  How did--”

“I wouldn’t have said that with Kyoko-chan still here.  Even you don’t always realise when I’m right behind you when you’re on your phone looking at the internet.”  There was a pause.  “Ren, I’m saying this as your _friend,_ not your manager.  I know that the last few months haven’t been easy for you, but now that I’m working as Kyoko’s manager… I think they’ve been even harder on her.  She’s dealing with something more complicated than even I understand.  Just... don’t do anything else stupid between now and when you get back. _If_ you want to ever use that ring.”

“Dealing with something?  Did she tell you something?”

Another pause.  “She did.  In confidence.  I don’t think she’d appreciate me sharing it with a… what did she just finish calling you?”

“I get your point.”

“All right.  I’m going to hire someone to look into that man.” He sighed.  “Today is going to be a long day.”

“I have a recommendation for that.”

*~*~*

“You don’t need to keep apologizing, Kyoko-chan.  Everyone in the industry knows that Fuwa is liable to just show up to your sets and cause a ruckus.  I just hadn’t heard about him doing it lately.”  Shingai was walking with her down a hallway at LME.

“Apparently he’s been on tour for about a year.”  Kyoko sighed.  “I really am very sorry.  Things just keep happening that are messing with the production schedule.”

“Araki-kun’s current behavior is more my fault than yours.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have come up with the little scheme to keep him in love with you until filming was over.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “You’re as known for your schemes as Sho is for interrupting my shoots.”

Shingai smiled.  “I suppose you’re right.”  He paused.  “Even Togo-san is thinking that Araki-kun just needs to buck up.  I’ll have the men work together for a few days.  We’re almost done with their scenes, but with the mood that Araki-kun is in, it’ll probably take longer than normal to push through.”

“Director--”

“It’s all right, Kyoko-chan.  What we have shot is spectacular.  I’ve already started editing it, we’ll make schedule just fine.”

She nodded.  “This is me.”

He smiled.  “I’ll see you on set in a couple of days.  I’ll let Yashiro-san know the change in the filming schedule.”

Kyoko opened the door to the Love Me department.  She frowned.  Both Kanae and Chiori were sitting at the long table, looking like they were waiting for her.

“Moko-san--”

“Don’t Moko-san me, _Ko-ko-chan_.”  Kanae did not look happy.  “Hizuri-san? Really?  I thought that you and Tsuruga-kun were only taking a break, not that you were seeing other people.”

Of course news would spread like wildfire, right back to the Love Me department.

She sighed.  “It’s not what you think.”

“It isn’t?  Than what?”

Kyoko sunk down into a chair.  “It was the day after the shop was vandalized.  I was still pretty shaken and had gone down one of the side hallways to collect myself.”  She’d tell them the truth, but with a very important omission.  “I didn’t even know he was standing there until he was.  He was just so kind and gentle… I just... let it happen.  I shouldn’t have, but I did.”  She sighed.  “It’s not like I cheated on anyone.  Ren and I are on a break.”  And Ren was Kuon.  If anything, she cheated on the break.

Kanae and Chiori both frowned and looked at each other, then back at her.

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Do you even want to get back together with Tsuruga-kun?”

Kyoko looked down at her folded hands and nodded.  She was mad at him, again, but she still loved him.  Calling him out on his behavior had actually made her feel much better.

Chiori interrupted her thought.  “Then why don’t you?”

Kyoko didn’t say anything.

“He’s really patient.  He’s dealt with a good deal of your co-stars developing crushes, and never once complained that you won’t be seen with him in a way that can be interpreted as the two of you being a couple.  He even went to that charity event _alone_.  Do you know how many times we were asked why you didn’t attend and had to laugh it off?  You were supposed to go with him.”

Kanae’s words sliced into her like tiny little knives.  She looked up.  “Supposed to?”

Kanae nodded.  “That’s why Aya-chan didn’t forward your invitation on, she thought you’d be going with Tsuruga-kun.  He even had told her that he was planning to bring you as his date.  She was _thrilled_.  She hated your ‘no one must find out that Tsuruga-san and I are together’ game.  Then you didn’t go with him.”

“I had my own invitation?”

“Does that matter?”

“Yes.  I would have gone if I’d--”

“You would have gone as his _friend_ .  Just as always.  It’s fine as long as you can hide behind that.  Aren’t you tired of hiding your relationship?   _He_ obviously is.  He can’t even get jealous when a co-star hits on you. He’s just supposed to smile and find it amusing.”

“Every woman he acts with falls in love with him.  And _I’m_ not supposed to get jealous.”

Kanae nodded.  “You’re right, they do, but they rarely ever think they can have him.  He always maintains this… distance from them.  You’re the only one he doesn’t do that with and everyone knows that.  His dear _friend_ Kyoko-chan.”  She paced over to a locker.  “You never maintain a distance, so your co-stars always think they have a chance, but they don’t.  At first it was because you didn’t know you needed to, but then, well it’s not your personality to hold people at arm's length, is it?  I don’t know if I feel worse for poor idiots like Araki-kun or Tsuruga-kun!”

Chiori put her hand on Kanae’s arm.  “Stop.  Seriously, Kanae-chan, stop.  Just look at her face.”

Kyoko knew that she had tears streaming down her face.  She buried her face in her arms and just cried.  She felt when Moko sat down next to her and felt her hand on her back.  “You’re my friend, you’re supposed to be on my side, not his.”

She leaned her head against the back of Kyoko’s.  “I am your friend. It’s why I can tell you when you’re being an idiot and you’ll listen to me.  I want you to be happy, and right now that means being on his side.”

Chiori pushed a handkerchief over towards her.  “We just wanted to know what happened with Hizuri-san.”

Kyoko hiccoughed.  “A lapse of good judgement.  I have a lot of those.”

“Since Day One.”  Kanae pressed a quick kiss against her hair and stood up.  “Ok, that’s enough tears.  Dry your eyes and get to work.”

“Yes, Moko-san.”

“And... Ko-ko-chan?” Kyoko looked at her.  “Make up with him already.”

*~*~*

Ꮚ˃̶͈ ֊̫ ˂̶͈Ꮚ   _(That’s a sad, apologetic sheep, by the way.)_

He pressed ‘Send’.

“Kuon, we’re ready for you!”

He dropped his phone onto his chair and jogged over to the director and Taylor.

“I tried and could only get halfway up.  The handholds aren’t enough.”

Kuon eyed the scaffolding.  “I can do it.”

“You’re supposed to be the one on the computer during this.”

“Which is better, an actor climbing that and getting face shots, or a stuntman with a focus on wides and using head replacement?”  He sighed.  “Technically, I think we could switch our roles for this one scene.”

Taylor nodded.  “But do you really think that you can climb that thing?”

Kuon smirked.  “Watch me.”

“You don’t have on…” the director held his head as Kuon ran over and jumped up to grab one of the bars.  “A safety harness.”  He turned his head.  “Safety crew!  Get a net!”

Kuon wasn’t paying them any attention as he grappled his way up the scaffolding.  He could even see where Taylor had gotten stuck.  The next secure hold was just out of reach.

“Told you!” his co-star shouted up to him.

Undeterred, he let go with one of his hands and swung his legs out, wrapping them around the bar. When he had a decent grip with his thighs, he let go.  So now he was upside down, but if he could just reach the bar...  He grabbed it and righted himself and kept scrambling his way up.

He could hear the director curse below him, but he shoved it out of his mind and focused on finding the next secure hold.  It was off to the side; he’d have to push off and grab it one handed.

He almost slipped, but grabbed back on at the last second.  He could hear a few gasps and the director yelling that they needed to get that net set up now, before he fell!  He jumped off and grabbed the bar, swinging once with one hand before grabbing onto it with his other hand and heaving himself up.  One more quick climb and he was at the top.

He looked down at the people on the ground.  “It’ll be easier when I do it on film since I’ve done it once already!”

Taylor shouted and clapped.  “That was awesome.  They should have gotten you for that _Assassin’s Creed_ movie.  You’ve got the parkour thing down.”

Kuon made his way down the ladder at the back of the facade.  “Will it work?”

The director nodded.  “As long as Taylor is all right with the switch.”

“Hell yeah.  Like I said, that was awesome.  Just don’t forget, Kuon.”  He paused and tugged at the T-shirt Kuon was wearing.  “Can’t wear that.”

“One of your many shirtless scenes?”

“Gotta please those ladies.”

He shook his head.  “It’s fine if that’s how the scene is written.  It’s not like the shirt is necessary for climbing.”  His phone vibrated and he went to go check it.  

 _We’ll talk about it when you get back._  Ꮚ˘ꈊ˘Ꮚ

Another sheep emoji.  It was turning into a good day.

*~*~*

“Togo-san talked to him and it seems that he’s ready to get back to the main scenes.  So I thought that we’d try one of the shop scenes.  All the exteriors are going to be done on location, but so as to not inconvenience the shop owners after what happened, we’re duplicating the interior on a set.  I’ve had them working on it since yesterday.”

Kyoko followed Shingai over to the small shop set.  It was really well done and it was set up in a way that gave the cameras more freedom than the original shop had.  She smiled.  “It looks good.”

One of the costume department members rushed over with her costume for the day.  “I just pulled it together.  Most of the shop stuff was still in the trailer.  If you want I can take it to your dressing room for you, Kyoko-san.”

Kyoko smiled at the woman and motioned no.  “It’s fine.  I can handle it.  She took the hangars with the different garments and held them up above her head so they were nowhere near the ground.  Set floors weren’t known for their sparklingly cleanliness.

“All right.  Why don’t you get ready?”

Kyoko nodded and made her way over to her dressing room. They’d actually get a whole day of shooting today before she had to go and film the whisky commercial tomorrow and Monday.  She opened the door and walked in.  Her foot caught on a loose tile and she stumbled, just barely catching herself.  She took another step and tripped over a different loose tile, and this time there was no recovery.  She went down, landing on the neatly pressed clothes of her costume.

She grumbled and rolled off of them as quickly as she could.  Hopefully they weren’t wrinkled.  She looked over at them.  Of course they were.  She’d have to go and apologize to costuming and wait while they re-pressed them.  She sighed and put her hands on either side of her so she could get up.  The second she put any weight on her ankle, however, pain shot up her leg.  She groaned.  Not again.  She knew this pain.  Not again.

What should she do?  If she could get up and onto the seat at the vanity, she could probably wrap it herself with the room’s first aid kit.  She sighed and tried to get up, putting as little weight on her ankle as possible.  She grimaced through the pain, but still couldn’t do it.  She dropped back down.

Call for someone?  Kyoko really didn’t want to, but if she had to.  She raised her voice a little.  “Is anyone in the hall?  At all?”  she sighed.  She’d just have to wait for someone to come looking for her.  It wasn’t like Ren was going to happen by and carry her back to the set this time.

Fifteen minutes later, Shingai came looking.  “Kyoko-chan?  Is everything all right?”  

“No.”

He pushed the slightly ajar door open and looked down.  His question was written all over his face.

“Yes, it’s the same one I broke, but I don’t think it’s broken this time.  It just really hurts.  If I can get it wrapped, I’ll bring the clothes back to costuming to be freshly pressed and we’ll go from there.”

“You want me to let you do a scene where you’re standing and walking in a shop on a potentially sprained or, at the very least, a twisted ankle?”

“When you put it like that…”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed a number.  “Yashiro-san?”

Kyoko sighed.

*~*~*

The studio medic finished wrapping her ankle and sat back on his heels.  “I don’t think that she needs to go to the hospital, it really is just a sprain, but she needs to stay off of it as much as possible for a few days.”

Shingai and Yashiro were nodding in agreement.

Kyoko was the only one motioning no.  “I’m fine.  I really am.”

The medic made his way out.  “Building maintenance should really have someone look at the tiles in this room.  There were a bunch that were loose.  I’m surprised that she’s the first one to get hurt.”

“More than one or two?”  Yashiro bent down to look at the tile Kyoko had caught herself on.  It easily flipped up.  He bent closer.  “This wasn’t just a loose tile.”

Shingai knelt down next to him.  The edge of the tile was chipped and the mortar looked like it had been hacked at with a chisel.  “Definitely not loose.”

“What’s going on?  What are you talking about.”

Shingai and Yashiro looked at Kyoko and then back at each other.  “Do you think?” Yashiro asked.

“That, or Kyoko’s right in all her muttering that this production is cursed.”

“I’ll call the detective we sat down with after the shop was vandalized.”

“What are you two talking about?”  Kyoko was staring at them.

Shingai sighed and looked up at her.  “Kyoko-chan, you didn’t trip because of a loose tile.  Someone was trying to make you trip, they ripped the tile up and then dropped it back in place.”

“It might be the same person that vandalized the shop.”

“But that was because--”  She stopped herself.

Yashiro was shaking his head.  “You know, I don’t think so.  Not anymore.”

*~*~*

Kyoko was sitting in Yashiro’s office with her leg up on a stool he had one of the staff bring in.  She had wanted to go home, but Yashiro had asked her to stay so that he could keep an eye on her.  At least until the detective spoke to them.

She was determined to go to the commercial shoot and had used the fact that she wouldn’t even have to stand at all as a means to secure Yashiro’s agreement.  It just meant that instead of shooting the commercial they had planned, they’d need to do the fourth one in the series instead.

He was still talking to the director of the shoot.

“Yes, Kyoko-chan wants to do it.  Says she’s adamant about it and that since she already needs to reschedule the drama shoot, her schedule is already chaotic.  As long as it’s the fourth one, she says she can do it since it doesn’t involve her walking.”

He paused.  “Are you sure?”  Another pause.  “Then we’ll see you tomorrow, Tagawa-san.  Thank you for your understanding.  And once again, we apologize for the inconvenience.”

He hung up the phone and turned to Kyoko.

“Well?”

He sighed.  “She went for it.  Was impressed by your pluck.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Yashiro didn’t answer since there was a knock on his office door.  “Come in.”

It was the President.  “Good afternoon.”

Yashiro stood up.  “President.”

“Sit, sit.  I just came for a friendly chat since Mogami-kun here shouldn’t be coming to me.”  He motioned to where Kyoko was on the small couch and then pulled out a chair and sat down.  His demeanor was quite subdued, even if his American Hippie outfit was anything but.  “I am concerned.”

Yashiro nodded.  “I am as well.”

“Have you had a chance to talk to the detective?”

“No, he said he would go to look at the floor of the dressing room first.  He wanted to see for himself if he really thought there might have been some sort of foul play.  He’ll be coming here after.”

“Good, good.  In the meantime, I don’t want you to mention that Mogami-kun’s little accident may have been caused by someone to Ren.”

“But-”

The President shook his head.  “Ren has many stunts coming up in these last few weeks, and it’d be best if he didn’t have to worry about anything.  By all means, tell him that Mogami-kun hurt her ankle, but do not tell him how.  He already has enough distractions when it comes to looking into who broke into his apartment, does he not?”  The President looked at both of them in turn with a stern gaze.  They hadn’t mentioned anything about that to him.  Kyoko looked away first.

“We--”

“It’s fine.  I understand.  He told me about the problem himself before he left for London.  I just want his head to stay in his work and not on other things when something going wrong could be dangerous for him.”  The President sighed.  “Now then.  We have another problem.  As Mogami-kun’s and Kotonami-kun’s temporary manager, as well as Ren’s full time manager, even if he is out of the country, you have too much on your plate, Yashiro-kun.”

“I’m managing--”

The President held up a hand.  “I know.  I have no complaints with your work, it was just a statement of fact.  I have just come from speaking with Kotonami-kun, actually.  She will be managing herself for the next two weeks until this is cleared up.  If she needs help, please by all means step in, but we both agreed that since she’s not the one who is having mysterious accidents, that Yashiro-kun should stay with Mogami-kun primarily.  At least for the time being.”

Kyoko sighed and nodded.  She wasn’t surprised by the President’s demands.  It was a reasonable request, all things considered.

“This is just a temporary solution, however.  Ren will be back in a few weeks and will need his manager back, even though I know he would happily volunteer to work on his own for a couple of weeks if it meant Mogami-kun had someone he trusted watching over her.”

She blushed.  They’d never actually told the President, but he had figured it out almost immediately.  They still never confirmed his suspicions to his face.

“So part of what I want you to do the next couple of weeks is to go find a replacement for Aya-chan.  She’ll be back in about seven months, and at that point will take over as Kotonami-kun’s manager.  Until then, Kotonami-kun and Mogami-kun will share this new manager, as they have done with Aya-chan.  Once Aya-chan is back, this new manager will be Mogami-kun’s full-time manager.  Are my wishes clear?”

The two nodded.  

“Yashiro-kun, you know who is currently available in the management pool, but I have also written up some recommendations given the… unique situations that this manager will have to put up with, given that his or her ultimate charge will be Mogami-kun.  Also, I would like to know that you, personally, will get along with him or her since I’m sure the two of you will be working closely in the future?”

Kyoko covered her face with her hands.

“One day you will tell me, Mogami-kun.”

“Never.”

The President raised one eyebrow.  “That’s what Ren says as well.”

*~*~*

Somehow, she’d made it through her variety show appearance that night.  It wasn’t taped live, but there was an audience.  She switched up her outfit to a pair of jeans and a flirty top to hide the wrapping on her ankle and an assistant walked her out to the sofa, instead of her walking out on stage as was the norm.

The hosts had been kind and understanding and rearranged things so the activities were all word play games instead of things that would have her up and moving about.

She was just glad that her building had an elevator.  Going up stairs on crutches was not something she wanted to do again, having already done that once when she was first starting out.

Yashiro dropped her things on her table and asked if he could get her anything before he left for the night. She just shook her head, teling him that she’d see him in the morning when he came to pick her up before her commercial shoot.

She collapsed on her bed and got comfortable.  She had a couple of scripts, but nothing else to do.  Originally, she was going to go and watch the night shoot that Moko was on, but given the crutches and the location, that was just a bad idea.  Usually, she’d be at Ren’s on nights like this, cooking dinner and relaxing with him once he returned from his own work schedule.  Nine seemed almost early now, when for the last few months she didn’t finish work until almost eleven or later at night.

She sighed and picked up her phone.  She had pulled her jeans off before climbing onto the bed so her legs were exposed.  She leaned back on the pillow and focused the camera.  She moved it higher so that more of her bare thighs would be in the picture.  She snapped it and sent it along with the message: _So bored. Finished early.  Can’t work much. Must rest._

She wondered how long it would take him to notice the wrap on her ankle.  She’d probably have to wait for at least a couple of hours for him to wake up.  It was only 5 AM in LA, after all.  She picked up one of the scripts for a drama she was thinking of acting in next season and started flipping through.

It only took thirty minutes until her phone buzzed next to her.  She looked down.  It wasn’t a text message, he was calling.  She picked it up and pressed accept.

“Kyoko?”  He sounded sleepy.

“Did my message wake you?  I purposely sent it as an email so as not to.”

He sighed.  “I’ve taken to sleeping with my phone next to my head just in case.  Besides, I needed to get up in thirty minutes if I wanted to fit in a run before heading into LA.”

“Early morning run on the beach to take advantage of the sunrise?”

She could hear the smile in his voice.  “You know me too well.  I miss the beach here.  Guam comes close, but still isn’t the same.”

She gave a little laugh.  Her heart clenched.  She’d missed this so much, their easy conversations.

“That picture wasn’t fair, you know.  I almost missed the bandage on your ankle.  What happened?”

Stick to the story.  “I tripped and sprained my ankle during a shoot.  It’s really stupid.  I have to rearrange all my shooting schedule for the next few days now.  At least I didn’t have much going on this weekend.  A couple interviews, but they weren’t being filmed, so I can still do that easily.”

The line was quiet, she could hear him take in a deep breath.  “But you’re fine otherwise?”

“I am.  Your manager is so much less of a pushover than mine, I can’t get away with anything.”

He laughed.  “Good.  I’ll have to send Yashiro a message thanking him.  You need a manager that you can’t run roughshod over.”

“You should pass your suggestion on to Yashiro-san.  I have to fit in interviews with managers this week.  The president wants to separate Moko-san and I once Aya-chan comes back from maternity leave.”

“Good.  I think it’s about time that you had a dedicated manager.  I was so much younger and less in demand when Yashiro was assigned to me full time.”

“That’s because you’re the President’s favourite.”

“And you aren’t?  I think he prefers his Love Me department members to me.”

She laughed.  “Oh, he tried to get me to confess again.”

“And failed.”

“Always.  I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.”

“Neither of us do.”  There was a long pause.  “Kyoko?”

“Yes?”

She could hear his breathing, but he didn’t say anything immediately.  “I miss you.  That’s allowed, right?  It’s not against the rules.”

“It is allowed.”  Her heart twisted and clenched again.  “I really miss you too.”  She took a deep breath.  “I wish…”  She stopped.

He waited.  When she didn’t continue he said, “Wish what?”

 _That I had gone with you to that charity event_ … But she didn’t say it.  That’d be saying that she was ready to go public, and she still wasn’t entirely sure she was, but she was closer than she’d ever been.  “That I was with you right now.”

“I’d much rather be there than here now.”

“Not enjoying the filming?”

“I am really enjoying it, actually.  I took over one of the stunts from Taylor, with his approval.  It’s a parkour climb up some scaffolding.  I’m sure you’ll be really disapproving.”

“I am.”  She laughed, and swallowed down the feeling of worry and desire to be with him.  “So why would you rather be here?  There isn’t a scaffolding for you to attempt to break your neck on.”

“Because you’re there and not here.”

“You’re a sap.”

“I’m not going to argue with the truth.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headboard.  Neither of them said anything.

“Kuon?”

“Hmm?”

“We definitely need to talk when you get back.”  She sighed.

“Oh?  You sound so serious all of a sudden.  I’m not going to like the conversation, am I?”

“I don’t think it’ll be too bad, just awkward.”  She wasn’t ready, but she had two weeks to get ready.  “I thought we could talk over dinner.  There’s this place I’ve been wanting to try.  If I can’t get reservations, I’ll just have Yashiro call and use your name.  You can definitely get us in anywhere, right?”

The line was quiet for a really long time.  She squeezed her eyes shut.  He had to see this for the olive branch it was.  It practically had neon lights flashing “YOU WIN!”

“I love you, Kyoko.”

“That’s against the rules.”

“I don’t care.”

*~*~*

Kuon grabbed the keys to the Viper off the counter where he’d dropped them last night.  He looked around for his wallet.  He finally spotted it on the little table by the door.

“You’re running late.  Overslept?  You didn’t go for a run this morning.”

His father had come in and was standing in the doorway sipping a cup of coffee.

“I got up on time.  I just didn’t go for a run.  And now I’m late.”  He’d promised Kyoko he’d eat _something_ when he had hung up with her thirty minutes ago.  He poured some coffee into a travel cup and walked over to the refrigerator.  He hated figuring out food.  He missed Kyoko’s perfectly portioned breakfast bentos that required absolutely no thought on his part but were always, _always_ in his fridge at home.  Even during the last three-month-long break.  He sighed.  Talking to her for the last couple hours had made him miss her even more than he already had.

“Those sentences are incongruous.”

He looked at his father as he grabbed one of his mother’s ubiquitous premade healthy fruit and vegetable sludges.  It was a brownish sort of green, and looked completely unappetizing.  “I’m stealing this.  And then I’m going to regret it halfway to work.”

His father laughed.  “If you’re already late, wait two more minutes and I’ll make you a breakfast burrito.  High in protein for staying power, you won’t hate eating it, and your girlfriend won’t be mad that you skipped breakfast.  Triple win.”

Kuon put the sludge back in the refrigerator.  “What’s the catch?”  His father was already cracking eggs into a bowl.  Many many eggs.

“There should be cut peppers and onions and green things in there, grab them. And the cheese.  I’ll go light on yours, don’t worry.”  His father looked up as he tossed the vegetables that Kuon had handed him in the wok. “No catch.  I just want to know why you’re late.  Since I’m making you breakfast and all.  To go, even.”

“That is the definition of a catch.”  Kuon sighed and ran his hands through his hair.  “I was talking to Kyoko.  She sprained her ankle at work yesterday… today, I guess, actually.”  He sighed.  “I just lost track of time.”

His father gave him a wide grin.  “I knew there was no reason to worry.  Julie was convinced that the two of you were fighting and that she’d never have any grandchildren ever because who else would love her difficult son like Kyoko-chan.”

“Kyoko’s only twenty.  Mother spends too much time around Miranda’s kid.”  Kuon took the proffered breakfast monstrosity from his father.  It was about twice the size of something he could actually eat.  “Besides, it was only a temporary truce.  We’re back to not speaking again.”

His father frowned.

“I’m really late, I have to go.”  He left the house without saying anything more and jumped into the car.  How in the hell was he supposed to eat this thing?  He pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the highway.  He couldn’t help the smile on his face.

*~*~*

He pulled into the lot exactly one minute late.  That was within his allowable margin of error.  If he’d been in his mother’s Mercedes, he’d probably still be on his way here.  He was just glad that traffic was on his side.  Though he still had half of the monstrosity left.  The thought of eating it made him ill.

Taylor pulled in right behind him in his much more reasonable car and got out.  “One day, man, I will own something like that.  Once this movie makes it big.  Please tell me that you drive something pathetic or reasonable when you can’t borrow your father’s car.  Like a Civic.”

“Sorry, my day to day car is a Porsche 911.”

“I really hate you.”

He chuckled.  “I have half a breakfast burrito?  Truce?”

Taylor looked at it and smiled.  “Sure. Why not.”  He bit into the wrapped scrambled egg mess his father had made.  “That’s good.”

 


	6. A Hard Fall

Yashiro stood off to the side and watched the photoshoot.  He wished that he could say that he was watching it dispassionately, but he wasn’t.  He wondered just how aware of Kyoko’s jobs Ren was.  He never commented on them really, but this, this was definitely new for her.

Kyoko stretched out on a large bed wearing just a large but thin shirt and a pair of small shorts.  In one outstretched hand she had a glass of whisky.  How she was managing to not spill any confounded him.

“That’s good, Kyoko-chan.  Can you go onto your stomach along the width of the bed?”

Kyoko rolled, careful to not spill the liquor.  An AD for the shoot ran over and started repositioning the props around her, a laptop and a pair of headphones.  Yashiro really wasn’t getting the concept at all.

“Can you curl your toes just a bit.  Only your uninjured foot though, drop the other leg, we don’t want you tensing that ankle, remember..”

Kyoko did as she was told and turned to face the camera.

“Good, hold that.  Can you go and drop the shoulder of her top, please?”

The AD who had adjusted the props went back to adjust the clothes, tugging the shirt so that the sleeve was off her shoulder, baring it.

“OK, good…. Yeah… Take a sip.”  The shutter kept going off.  “Good.  Great. Onto your back with your head off the edge of the bed near me now.”

Kyoko twisted into the position the photographer asked for with the glass of whisky held in her fingers under her head near the floor.

“Can you bring your knee up?  Uninjured.”  More shutter sounds.  “Just so.  Perfect.  I think we’re done for now.  If we need something else, we’ll do it on Monday after the actual shoot.”

Kyoko pulled herself into a kneeling position and bowed from the bed.  “Thank you very much.”

Yashiro couldn’t help thinking that Ren would not like that these photos would be part of a national ad campaign.  And there was still the commercial to shoot.

The director came in.  She was in her early forties and was well known in the industry, but Yashiro didn’t think that Ren had ever worked with her.

“All right, Kyoko-chan, let’s go through the blocking.  You have an interview after this, right?  So we’ll do the blocking and a light test, then talk about the shoot on Monday.  The test shots I’ve seen are really good.”  She sat down on the edge of bed with the storyboards and Kyoko moved to look at them as they flipped through.  “Can you manage that without hurting your ankle?

“Yeah, I went over the basics last night at home.”  A blush colored her cheeks.  Yashiro thought it was strange.

“Did you get your boyfriend to watch?”

Could they have talked?  Video chatted, maybe?

“What boyfriend?”

The director laughed.  “All right.  Let me see how it goes.  I’ll put the music on and you just go through it.”

Kyoko moved so that she was sitting in the center of the bed and pulled the laptop toward her.

When the blocking was done, Yashiro was absolutely sure that Ren would hate this commercial.  He wondered if the previous two were just as bad.

*~*~*

_Nikka has a new spokesmodel.  You should have told me._

Kuon rolled his eyes at his father’s text.   _Why would I have?  I was actually planning to try for it, but they never put a call out.  I’m guessing they already had someone lined up._

The reply was instantaneous.   _I don’t think you’re the type they were looking for._  He clicked on the attachment.

 **_Kyoko_ ** was standing by a large picture window with the lights of Tokyo in the background in nothing but a towel.  She had one hand braced against the window and a glass of whisky in the other.  

He felt a little winded.  This was the national campaign that she’d gotten?  She just mentioned she’d signed a contract for one in passing.  She never said anything about it being for his personal preferred brand of whisky.  Or that it involved her only wearing a towel.

“What are you looking at?  You look a bit dazed.”

He swallowed.  “The, uh, actress we worked with in Tokyo, Kyoko.”

“What about her?  She was cute, but totally not my type.  I was definitely more for the tall, hot one.”

Kuon flipped the phone around.

Taylor leaned in.  “That’s the same girl?”  He shook his head.  “That can’t be the same girl.”

“My father sent me the file.  He knows her and keeps track of her career.  It’s the same girl.”

“What’s the tagline at the bottom say.”

“‘It’ll be our secret.’  I think they’re trying to bring more young women into drinking whisky.”

His phone buzzed.

 _There was a commercial too._ There was a link.

“I want to see.”

Even though he didn’t particularly want his co-star watching it, Kuon clicked the link anyway.  Not watching it wasn’t an option for him.

The former brand model poured a glass of whisky, took a sip and then set it down.  The camera stayed focused on the glass, but in the background, out of focus, you could see him drop the towel from around his waist and get into the shower.  The camera panned over to the bedroom door.  The bed was a mess.  Kyoko walked through in nothing but a towel.  She looked toward the shower, but walked over to where the glass had been abandoned.  She smiled and picked it up.  Holding it to her cheek, she closed her eyes before opening them and drinking while staring at the camera.  She put the glass down and lifted a finger to her lips.  Then she turned and headed to the shower as she opened her towel.  The screen went black and the logo and tagline appeared.

“Um, yeah… So, is it a good whisky? Should I try and find some?”

*~*~*

Kyoko leaned back into the chair she was sitting in and propped her foot up.  One interview down and one to go.  Hopefully this one would be more interesting.

Her phone buzzed and she looked down.  She opened the message.

 _Whisky?_  

She tapped a reply out.   _What about whisky?_

_Do you steal my whisky while I’m in the shower, Kyoko?_

Kyoko smiled.  So he had seen it.   _Sometimes._

_Tell me there won’t be a billboard.  I’ll get into an accident if I have to drive by a giant picture of that everyday when I get back._

She looked up as Yashiro entered the room and quickly typed out a response. _I thought we were going back to the rules.  P.S. They’re using a shot from the second ad for the billboard._

She put her phone in her pocket.  “Are they ready for me?”

“Yes, they gave us extra warning to get you to the stage on time since you’re on crutches.”  Yashiro’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket with his handkerchief.  He frowned.  “Kyoko-chan, why does Ren want a copy of your second Nikka ad?”

She was balancing on one foot and getting the crutches situated, but she looked up and smiled.  “Because he saw the first one.”

*~*~*

Kyoko sat down next to Kanae.  “When do you finish?”

She didn’t get an answer.

“I hobbled all the way over here and I’m being ignored.  Mooooooko-san.”  She followed Kanae’s line of sight and smiled.  “Oh.  Now it makes sense.”

“Hmm?  What makes sense?”  Kanae turned back toward her.

Kyoko was staring at the young actor that Kanae had been studying intensely when she sat down.  “He looks taller than you.”

“He is.  I mean, who?”

Kyoko laughed.  

“Shut up.  He’s only sixteen.”

Kyoko put her head on Moko’s shoulder.  “I think I’ve had this conversation before.”

“No, we haven’t.”  Moko pushed Kyoko’s head off of her.

“I didn’t say that **_we’d_ ** had it, just that I have.”

Kanae looked at her.  “When?”

“Back when I was sixteen and dressed as a chicken.”  She could smile at the memory now.  “Actually, I think that age difference was even bigger.  Doesn’t he turn seventeen soon?”

“Next month.”

Kyoko nodded.  “The age difference between Ren and I is larger by a few months.”

Kanae looked down at the ground when Hiou-kun turned toward them.  He initially started to smile and then frowned when he saw Kanae’s downturned face.

“Uh oh, I think he thinks that I’m bullying you.  You should come to my defense and tell him that you just don’t want him to see you blushing.”

Kanae took in a large breath of air and Kyoko held her hands out in front of her defensively.  “Moko-san, I’m joking.  I’m sorry.”

She deflated.  “He hasn’t acted for a year.  He wanted to take his first year of high school seriously and also use the time to decide if he still wanted to continue acting.  He’s never done anything but act since he was two.  He just returned a few weeks ago.  It’s the first time I’ve seen him in a year… and he looks like that.”  She sighed.

“He’s going to start making the popularity charts and gain a _lot_ of female fans.”

“What?”

Kyoko patted Kanae’s knee.  “Sho entered the popularity charts at sixteen and he was in the top ten against people like Ren before he was even seventeen.  He used to be so annoyed that he wasn’t number one.”

“He still isn’t.”

She shook her head.  “Because Ren is. But they’ll stop putting him in the polls in a couple years, though, and Sho might have a shot. However, there is definitely new competition for him.”  She paused.  “My point is, now that Hiou-kun looks like _that_ , he’s going to gain a lot of popularity with the girls.  You should be prepared, Moko-san.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Are you forgetting that I’m your best friend for life?  It matters to you.  You’ll just do a great job of _acting_ as if it doesn’t.”

“People shouldn’t like him because of the way he looks, they should like him because he’s an _incredible_ actor.”

Kyoko hummed.  “Kanae, did you see the female popularity rankings last month from- what’s that show…”

“Japonet Scope?”

“That one.”  Kyoko tilted her head to the side.  “You were ranked third, if I remember correctly.”

Kanae looked away.

Kyoko smiled. Her friend had been so incensed when the ranking was revealed.  “And I barely made tenth.  In fact, I only tied for it.  Chiyorin was number eight, I think.  No, seven.”

“You’re just as good an actress as I am.”

“Thank you.  Both for the compliment and proving my point.”

Kanae sighed.  “Tsuruga-san is an incredible actor.”

“He’ll be the first to admit that it’s not his acting ability that primarily wins those polls, though.  As an actor, one should vanish into their roles.  There was an article I was interviewed for six months ago, and when they published it a month or so later, well, it depressed me and I didn’t talk to anyone about it. But because Yashiro-san is a nosy busybody he showed it to Ren, and so I was cornered and made to talk about it.”

“What did it say?”  Kanae was looking at her with a furrowed brow.

“They asked a lot of people on the street if they knew any of my work, and only a handful did, but when they asked the same people what they thought about one of my roles, they instantly recalled the role and usually had a really strong opinion about the actress.  The article turned into this piece about how I was the Vanishing Actress.”

“That’s just depressing.”

“Again, my point.  Ren didn’t see it as depressing though.  He pointed out that it meant that I was doing my job incredibly well if the only impression I left was the character.  Of course, there are other reasons that I want name recognition, but, I still liked the compliment.”

“So you’ll forever be trailing in the popularity polls even if you’re an amazing actress.”

“Yes.”  Kyoko looked over to where Hiou-kun was in a heated conversation with the director about something in the playback.  “But all this is off topic.”

Kanae looked at her.  “How much are you going to tease me about this and for how long?”

Kyoko smiled.  “Just a little and forever.  I will make jokes about it on your wedding day.”

Kanae pushed her shoulder and Kyoko pushed her back.

*~*~*

“You can’t act today.”  Shingai shook his head.

“I can.  I’m fine.  All better.”

Shingai shook his head.  “Yashiro-san told me what the doctor said this morning during your appointment.”

She looked over her shoulder.  “Do you do this to Ren too?”

“If Ren were to be injured and try to stubbornly do something against doctor’s orders, yes, I would. But he hasn’t, so it’s a moot point.”

Kyoko sighed.  “I’ve acted on worse and it’s just a tea ceremony scene.”

“Just a… I still have nightmares about that scene when I’m stressed.”  Shingai shook his head.  “No.”  He paused.  “Besides, I’d rather not have you on set today at all.”

“Why?”

“Well, your Nikka whisky commercial launched and Fuwa Sho is in the studio today doing an interview about his tour.  I’d rather not have a repeat of his last visit to the set.”

Kyoko nodded.  “So would I.  Tomorrow.  The doctor said I could return to normal work tomorrow, I just can’t run or jump or do anything more strenuous than standing and walking for a couple more days.”

She apologized to the cast and director Shingai one more time before hobbling off the set on her crutches while Yashiro carried her bag.

“We’ll go back to the LME offices and talk to some of the managers I think will work.”

Kyoko sighed.  “At least it is some sort of work.  I hate feeling like I have nothing to do.”

“Kyoko-chan, what happened?”  Shoko Aki was walking up to them.  Which meant that Sho was trailing somewhere behind her.  She sighed again.

“I tripped and fell.”  She laughed.  “It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“You need to be more careful.”  Shoko-san put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

Kyoko nodded.  “I really do.”

Sho rounded the corner with Nanokura Mimori hanging onto his arm.  Kyoko was actually surprised that that girl was still with Sho.  She had been sure that she either would have gotten fed up with his indifference, flat out dumped, or ignored until she vanished.

Her breasts looked bigger than the last time Kyoko had seen her, so maybe Sho was still interested.

“What happened to you?”

Kyoko ignored Mimori’s glare; she was used to glares after all.  She sighed.  “As I just told Shoko-san, I tripped and fell.  Does it really matter?”

“Of course it matters!  Christ, Kyoko--”

Yashiro’s voice broke into the conversation before they could get derailed into a fight.  “Kyoko-chan, it’s time we went back to the offices, the car is waiting.”

“Thank you, Yashiro-san.”

She shivered as she hobbled past Sho and Mimori and couldn’t understand why.

*~*~*

Sho leaned back into the couch.  He really liked this building.  “Do you think I should buy an apartment here?”  He watched as Mimori ducked out of her bedroom in nothing but her lingerie.  They were supposed to go to dinner together, but Sho was thinking about cancelling and just staying in.

After all, Mimori was always a willing partner and expected very little in return.

She shook her head.  “Definitely not.”

“Why not?”  He held out his hand and she came to him immediately.  There was absolutely no challenge with her anymore.  It was kind of boring.  “It has its own private security, in-building maintenance... it even has a grocery store, gym and spa for use only by tenants.”  Which means he could buy all the pudding he wanted and not have to worry about his image.  “It really is perfect.”

“Tsuruga lives here.”

Sho glowered.  Of course he does.  “I could tolerate him for the benefits.  How do you know, anyway?  I thought they didn’t release the tenant lists, even to other tenants.”  Sho ran his hands up and down Mimori’s bare arms.

“I’ve seen him come and go.  He’s on the floor below me.”

He settled his hands on Mimori’s hips and pulled her to stand between his legs.

“ **_She_ ** visits him and it would upset you.”  Mimori spit the word out.

“Kyoko?  Oh, everyone knows that they’re just friends, have been for years.  He’s probably tricked her into making his meals and cleaning his apartment for him.  She’s a pushover.”  He slid his hands behind her to grab her ass, but Mimori wasn’t really paying attention.  She was glowering.

“Why don’t you address her properly?”

“Kyoko?  I don’t know.  I’ve known her forever and she belongs to me.  Both of those make the use of an honorific superfluous, don’t you think?”

“Sho-chan, I don’t like it when you say that she belongs to you.”

He stroked her hair.  “Come on, pet, it’s not like that.  It’s more like a master-slave thing.  I’m just giving her a bit of freedom for now.”

“It isn’t.  You followed what she was doing while you were on tour.”  She was glaring at him.  “I saw the recordings when I visited you in Germany.”

He sighed.  This was going nowhere.

“So? I like to keep track of her.  Besides, my parents ask after her.”

“No, they don’t.  Not anymore.  She talks to them herself.  Stop lying to me.”

“Oh, Pochi, please, don’t be like that.  Let me give you a kiss.”  Kisses always shut up Mimori when she went off on a tangent about Kyoko.  She ducked her head.  For Chrissakes.

“They’re sleeping together.”

“What?”

“They’re sleeping together.  Your precious Kyoko and Tsuruga.”

Sho shook his head.  It was impossible.  “I told you, he’s probably just tricked her into becoming his maid.”

Mimori stuck out her chin and looked at him hard.  “I heard them.  There was a plumbing issue and they had to replace the insulation and soundproofing and went through my floor to do it.  There were days when I could hear anything loud that was happening in the apartment below mine.  I don’t think they told him because I’m pretty sure they would have at least been quieter.”

Sho swallowed.  “It could have been anyone.  No man wants to live like a monk, even if they don’t want to be attached in public.  He could have just about anyone.”

She shook her head.  “I heard him say her name.”

“She was probably visit--”

“No, Sho-chan.  He called out **_her name_ ** while they were… you know.”  Mimori was turning red, but Sho barely noticed.

“Fucking?”

She nodded.  “I can recognize the sounds, you know.  It definitely wasn’t just dinner making.”

He dropped his hands from her waist.  “Maybe he was watching porn and--”

“Sho-chan!”

He shook his head.  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”  He kissed her forehead.  “And I’m not feeling like dinner either.  I’m just going to go.”

He stood up and turned toward the door, but Mimori grabbed his hand.  He shook it off without looking at her.  “I’ll call you later.”

“You always say that and you never do.  I’m the one who calls you.”

He smiled at her even though he didn’t feel like it.  “Then you’ll call me.”

Once he was in the elevator he slammed his fist against the mirror, cracking it.  “Damn it!”

*~*~*

Why.  Why was he so obsessed with her?  It wasn’t fair!  It’d been years.  Shouldn’t it be over by now?

She just needed to find a better way to get her out of his life than what she’d already tried.

*~*~*

Kyoko bowed and thanked the presenters of Japonet Scope.  She’d been invited for their “What’s Hot” corner after Nikka posted the new whisky commercial and it’d gained a lot of popularity.

She barely managed to not grimace when the host said that it was her first time on the show, and she had laughed and gently corrected him.  She wasn’t that surprised, actually, but they really should have prepped the host of the corner better.  This happened every time.

The producer had come up and thanked her for her understanding and patience, and apologized about the misunderstanding.

“That isn’t the first time it’s happened to you, is it?”  Yashiro was walking with her down the hall at TBM.  Her ankle was finally better and she’d put in a full day of shooting on the set trying to catch up, but now she could feel it twinging from overwork.

“It isn’t.  It really depends on the showrunners.  Japonet Scope only focuses on the current trends.  They have a bad memory for the past, and I lack the name recognition of actors like Ren, musicians like Sho, and even actresses like Moko.  But they always apologize very sweetly to me.  I’ll probably get another basket of wine etc. as an apology in the morning.”

She was limping and Yashiro noticed.

“I’m walking too fast, aren’t I?  I’m so used to Ren’s strides.  I’m sorry, Kyoko-chan.”

She smiled.  It must have looked pained because Yashiro grimaced.  “It’s fine.  I’ll just need to ice it when I get home.”

“I’ll go and make sure the car is as close to the door as possible.  You take your time.”

She nodded and watched as Yashiro hurried off. She sighed.  She kept worrying everyone around her.  She stretched her ankle and grimaced, but when she started walking toward the exit at a much slower pace it didn’t feel so tender.

She wasn’t paying attention or she might have realised what was going to happen.  Someone pushed her and she started toppling sideways.  It was only then that she saw she was walking past the stairs that led down to one of the lower studios.  There was nothing for her to grab onto to steady herself, and she fell.  She braced for landing hard on the floor below, but never did.

A strong pair of arms grabbed her and she landed on top of someone.

“I did it this time.”

She knew that voice.  She looked down into the smiling face of Ishibashi Hikaru.  “Hikaru-kun?”

She scrambled to stand back up and get off her former co-worker’s chest.  He scrambled too to make sure that she didn’t lose her balance.  “Are you all right, Kyoko-chan?”

She nodded.  This was turning into the worst redos of her early acting career ever.  “What do you mean, this time?”

“That last time you fell down the stairs I failed to catch you. This time I managed it.”  He brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and looked into her face.  “Are you sure you’re all right?  Did you see who pushed you?”

She shook her head and took a _large_ step back. “I’m fine.”  Maybe Ren and Kanae had a point.  She bowed deeply.  “Thank you so much for breaking my fall, Hikaru-kun.”

When she straightened he was smiling, but it was a bit sad.  She hoped she didn’t hurt his feelings by stepping so far away.  “You’re welcome, Kyoko-chan.  Why don’t I walk you to the exit?”

She nodded.  “All right.”  She gripped the railing tightly as they climbed the stairs.

“Did you wrench your ankle when you fell?”

She shook her head.  “That happened last week.  It’s just hurting a bit is all.”  She smiled.  “I guess I’ve just been really clumsy this last week and a half.”

Hikaru’s smile didn’t reach his eyes anymore.  He looked worried.  

“Really, I’m perfectly fine.”  She turned to see Yashiro at the front door.

“I was just about to come looking for you.”

“I ran into Hikaru-kun and thought I’d say hello.  It’s been ages since I’ve seen him.”  She turned back to look at Hikaru.  “Please don’t say anything, he’ll only worry needlessly.”

Hikaru nodded.  “We should have you back on Kimagure Rock.”

“Anytime.  I always have room for Bridge Rock and Bo in my schedule.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking about moving the posting schedule to Tues/Fri instead of Tues/Sat. I have a few days to think about it though, but if anyone has an opinion, just let me know.


	7. A Little Bit Wabi.  A Little Bit Sabi.

“We’ve really watched them grow up on this show.  It’s interesting.”

Kanae twisted the script in her hands.  She hadn’t been expecting this.  She’d come back to the Minamori Minako series after years.  Or rather, the sideways sequel to the series.  Minako’s murder had been solved, but the series was so popular that they kept finding ways to bring back a lot of the characters.  It had turned into a drama special that came around every year or so with a new murder that somehow pulled in some of the characters from the original.

It managed to maintain its popularity.  This was her first time back in a couple of years.

Hiou-kun had agreed to come back as well.  He was standing by some of the veteran actors and smiling.  Where he had been so short before, he was now much taller.  

If only Kyoko hadn’t run her mouth the other day.  She sighed.

“Is everything all right, Kanae?”

She looked up.  She actually had to look _up_.  Last year they’d been eye level.  Hiou was staring at her from just a foot away.

“I called your name, but you didn’t respond.  Are you all right?”

She nodded and swallowed.  His eyes seemed like a much deeper brown than she remembered.  “I’m fine.  Just thinking about something Kyoko-chan said.”

“Was Kyoko being an idiot again?  It looked like she was upsetting you the other day.”

“No.  It’s… nothing.  She was telling me about an interview she did and it was bothering me, is all.”

Hiou smiled at her and her stomach flipped.  Oh, this was the worst.  She was falling for a high school student!  “All right.  They wanted to do blocking for our scene.  Are you ready?”

She nodded and followed him onto the set.  Even his shoulders had gotten broader.  Would girls really vote for him in the popularity polls even though he wasn’t even seventeen yet?  She stood against the wall where the Director told her to.  The premise was that she was now doing an internship at a law firm during college, and had run into Hiou’s character for the first time in a few years while on a case with her supervising attorney.

Hiou could no longer play younger than he was.

He nodded as the director told him how to stand and reminded him to not block the camera with his body.  It was important that they be able to see Kanae as well so when he leaned in, he had make sure that they were open.  And it needed to remain sweet; to not forget that their relationship was a balm for the audience.

She took a deep breath.  Whoever wrote this script should burn in hell.  Seriously.  Burn. In. Hell.

“OK, let’s do a quick run through.”

Kanae swallowed again and straightened her skirt.  

“Action!”

She looked up at Hiou.  “My, you really aren’t the little boy I used to babysit anymore.  When did you grow up?”

“When you weren’t looking.”  He paused and put his arm next to her.  “Does it bother you?”

“That you grew up? Of course not.”  She smiled up at him.  “All boys grow up eventually.”

Hiou nodded.  “We do.”  He started to lean in and then stopped.

Why did he stop?  He was supposed to kiss her.  Why didn’t he kiss her?  Did he not want to?  Kanae tilted her head and looked at him questioningly.

“Hiou-kun?”  Even the director was looking at him.

He straightened.  “There’s…” He turned back to Kanae.  “Kyoko’s here to see you, Kanae.  Excuse me.”  He walked over to the director and spoke softly to him.  Kanae forced herself to turn away and look at Kyoko.

Kyoko was white as a ghost and hopping back and forth from one foot to the other.  She went over to her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! I just wanted to have a sleepover tonight!  Let’s have a sleepover, Moko-san!”

She narrowed her eyes.  That face.  That was the “something is definitely wrong and I’m pretending everything is perfect” face.  She crossed her arms over her chest.  “There will only be a sleepover if you tell me what is wrong.  Now.”

Kyoko shook her head.  Her eyes were wide.  “It’s nothing.  It’s… maybe Chiyorin would be more interested in sleepovers.”

Kanae grabbed her arm.  “No.  It’s fine.  We can have a sleepover, but I need to finish here first.  Why don’t you go home and I’ll--”

“I’ll wait.  It’ll be fine if I wait.  I’ll just… go…”  Kyoko looked around and settled on a bench a little ways away from where they were shooting, but still within sight of all the goings-on.  “Right over there.  All right?”

Before Kanae could respond, Kyoko was already making her way over to the bench.  She was favoring her hurt ankle again.

“Is everything all right with Kyoko?”

“I don’t know.”

She looked over her shoulder at Hiou.  She’d never get used to how tall he was now.  Never.  Not in a million years.  And that’s why her stomach was doing cartwheels even though her friend was hurting about something.

“The director said you can go.  We’ll pick up our blocking later in the week.”

She nodded.  “Thank you, Hiou-kun.”

He put his hand on her arm for a moment and then dropped it.  “See you around, Kanae.”  He turned and walked away first.

Kyoko was fidgeting when Kanae reached her.  “Come on, let’s go.”

“Already?”

“Yeah.  I think Hiou-kun realised you were upset and got the director to let me leave.”

“I’ll have to thank him, then.”

“So you _are_ upset.”

“Can we go now?”  She looked around.  “I’ll tell you at home.”

*~*~*

“You have to tell Yashiro-san!  Or the police!  Kyoko, are you insane?!”  Kanae was yelling.

Kyoko was motioning her to be quiet.  “I’m fine.  All in one piece.  Not hurt.  Though I think I hurt Hikaru-kun’s feelings.”

“God, Kyoko, this is not a time to be worrying about whether you hurt Hikaru-kun’s feelings.  Someone pushed you down the stairs!”

“I **_think_ **.  I didn’t see anyone.”

“You **_think_ **? You just felt a force and it pushed you down the stairs?”

“Maybe it was voodoo?”  Kyoko was twisting her hands in front of her.

“Oh my God, my best friend is an idiot.”  Kanae stood over Kyoko and glared at her.  “You need to tell someone.  Tsuruga-kun, tell Tsuruga-kun, at least.”

Kyoko’s eyes went even wider.  “Noooo.  He’s working.  I don’t want to distract him.”

“I think he’d rather know.”

Kyoko took a deep, shuddering breath.  “He doesn’t even know how I sprained my ankle.  I just told him I tripped.  The president asked Yashiro-san and I not to tell him.  He’s apparently working on stunts this week.  A distraction could get him really hurt.”

Kanae sighed.  Kyoko had a point, but just imagining how furious he’d be when he got back to Japan and found out everything that had gone on… This was a disaster.  “I’m calling Yashiro-san.”

“Kanaaaaae.”

“No.  Kyoko, someone is really trying to hurt you.”  She took Kyoko by the shoulders and sat her down.  “I’m scared.  Me.  Kanae.  I’m scared that they’ll actually manage to do real damage to my best friend.  Now I’m going to call Yashiro-san and you’re going to sit there and not say anything.”

Kyoko nodded.

“Good.”  She took her phone out of her pocket and found his contact information and called.  He picked up on the fourth ring.  He probably needed to put on a glove or something.  “Yashiro-san?”

“Kotonami-san?  Is something the matter?”

“Yes.  Something is definitely the matter.”

He was quiet.  “Just let me get something to write with.  Who do I need to contact, and which project is this?”

“It’s not a work problem.  It’s a Kyoko problem.”

“Did something happen?”

“Someone pushed her down the stairs at TBM studios.  She freaked out when she was home alone and took a cab to my shoot.  She’s in my apartment now.”

“Stairs?”  He paused.  “Put her on the phone please, Kotonami-san.”

She sighed.  “I already yelled at her.  She’s really shaken up and doing that whole “everything is just fine” mask thing that she does when everything is the opposite of fine.”

“I understand.  I will not yell at her.”

Kanae handed Kyoko the phone.  She took it and placed it gingerly to her ear.  “Yukihito-san?”

Kanae pressed close so she could hear what was being said.  “... a car service to take you.  I want you to be checked over at the hospital.”  He paused.  "You should have told me."

“I’m fine, really.  Just a little shaken.  I’m having a sleepover with Moko.”

“We’ll have it at the hospital if we have to.” Kanae interrupted.

“But my shooting schedule!”  Kyoko actually sounded like she might cry.  “I just got back on my foot.  If they say I can’t work…”

Yashiro sighed.  “Please do not stop me from doing my job, Kyoko-chan.”

“Yukihito-san--”

“No, Kyoko-chan.  That’s it.   _I’ll_ take you to the hospital.  On the way I’m going to contact the President.”

“Fine.”

“I will be there in under twenty-five minutes.”

*~*~*

Kyoko curled up on Kanae’s couch.  She insisted on following through with their sleepover.  Kanae even let her braid her hair.  Kyoko was pretty adept at it.

“Are you sure that you’re all right?”

“No,”  Kyoko sighed.  “I’m not sure.  It’s just… why would someone push me down the stairs?”

Kanae looked at her over her shoulder.  “Have you thought that maybe it was related to the tile incident or the shop?”

“I was never sure that the tile incident and the shop incident were connected.  Not even the detective was.”

“Is he even trying to do anything about it?”

Kyoko brought her knees up and hugged them.  “What can he do?  They’ve gone through all my fanmail and didn’t find anything that could be of concern.”

“You could tell them about who your boyfriend is.  That would lead to a new line of inquiry.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I can’t.”

Kanae was irritated.  She sighed.  “Why? Because you’re still afraid of people finding out?  Maybe I should just tell everyone.”

Kyoko put her hand on Kanae’s arm and shook her head.  “I know you wouldn’t, but I’m trying.  I really am.  I asked him to go to dinner out with me when he gets back.  It’s a start.  But no, that isn’t why I can’t tell the detective.  Ren’s privacy is incredibly important to him.”

“At the cost of your safety?”

“No, not at the cost of my safety, and he will involve the police if he needs to, but right now… Ren’s paying a private investigator to investigate full time.  That’s all I know.”

Kanae went quiet.  “But he doesn’t know about the tiles or the stairs.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “And he can’t.  Not until he finishes filming.  The President has a point that him attempting these stunts when he isn’t fully concentrating could be really dangerous.”  She bit her lip.  “I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, Kanae, so give me this.”

Kanae sighed and stroked Kyoko’s head.  “Fine.  But if anything else happens, I’m blowing the whole thing up.”

*~*~*

“Kyoko?”

She looked up from where she was sitting on the edge of the set.  Hiou-kun was standing there.  “Out of school for the day?”

He nodded.  “Director Shingai told me that I could find you over here and that you had a few minutes before you needed to get back to filming.”

“You’re specifically looking for me?”

He nodded and looked away.  “I have an acting question.”

Kyoko looked to her right and left and behind her.  There was absolutely no one else in the vicinity.  “For me?”

He sighed.  “Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anyone else to ask.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief.  “I was worried that I was actually your first choice.  But why not go to Moko-san?”  A faint blush tinted his cheeks.  Oh, he was going to be very popular with the girls that liked a more bishounen look, indeed.  She narrowed her eyes.  “Is it about your scene with Moko-san?  Is that why you don’t want to discuss it with her?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“No, it isn’t.”  Kyoko turned more to face him.  “But I understand, you don’t want Moko-san to realise that there is an area in acting that you’re unfamiliar with.”  She gave him an out if he wanted to use it.

“I’ve seen plenty.  I’ve been acting since I was two, after all.”

Kyoko nodded.  “Of course, but you still haven’t had to kiss anyone on a stage.”

He huffed and gave a barely perceptible nod.

“Well then, just do what comes natural.”

He sighed, and his shoulders even sagged a bit.  “I tried that.  I thought that I could handle the scene and that I could wing it, but, I couldn’t.  What if it was laughably bad?  So I stopped.”

“Ah.”  Kyoko patted the space next to her and he sunk down in a tangle of newly long limbs.  It wasn’t graceful at all.  He needed more time to practice.  “So how can I help then?”

“I’m not going to take a class at a stupid acting school and I… can’t ask… Kanae…”

“Me?  You want me to teach you?  Why?”

He rolled his eyes.  “I should have picked someone else, but no, I had to think who is the best actress I know after Kanae and it’d have to be you.”

She couldn’t help herself, she smiled at the compliment.  “All right then, first things first.”

He shifted and looked at her.  

“Actor’s Rule of the Heart.  Just because it’s a stage kiss, does not make it your first kiss.  Or even your first kiss with that person.  Kisses are a dime a dozen in this business.”

“I know that.”

“Knowing and understanding are two different things.”  How many times had she kissed Ren before actually ever kissing him?  Too many.  “You don’t have to take my words to heart, just remember them for now.”

“Can we just get on with it?”

“You initiate in the scene, right?”  When he nodded she took a deep breath.  “All right, go on then.  Kiss me.”

A dark part of her soul found the look that flashed across his face very humourous, but she did not laugh.  The last thing a sixteen-year-old boy would want is to be laughed at by a girl.  Which was probably why he was here instead of getting this lesson from Kanae, whom he actually liked.  If Kyoko laughed, at least he could recover.  Though Kyoko knew that Kanae would never, ever laugh at him.

He furrowed his brow and pressed his lips tightly together.  Kyoko tilted her chin up and let him press his lips against hers.

“That was the worst.”

At least he realised it.  “Hmm.  No.  I’ve had worse.”  Anteaters siphoning bait came to mind.  “But it wasn’t good, I don’t think that’s quite what you’re going for.”  She paused and gathered her words.  “People, Hiou-kun, are soft and round.  Human flesh is delicate and warm, and is at its thinnest on the lips.  Don’t harden a kiss, because that’s not how people are.  No matter what, keep your lips soft and pliant.  Even if you have to angrily kiss someone, the tension is elsewhere in the body -- the arms, the shoulders and the back-- but not in the lips.”

She let him process for a minute.

“All right.”  He turned back to look at her.  “Should I try again?”

“That’s fine.”

This time he kept his lips soft.  He pulled away after a second.  

“Much better.”

He sighed.  “It’s not very… intimate.  It seems like the sort of kiss I’d give a friend.”

Kyoko nodded.  “It could be.  Not all kisses have to be intimate.”

“The script calls for a lightly heated kiss.”

“Ah.  They want young love’s kiss.”

“I guess so.”

“Then you part your lips.”  His eyes widened just a fraction and she hurried on.  “Not like you would for a deep kiss, just enough to… feel the shape of the other person’s lips with your own.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.  ‘Feeling lips?’”

“Look at me.”

He did.  Kyoko leaned forward and kissed him lightly, just brushing his bottom lip between hers before pulling away  It was only a few seconds.

“Feel the difference?”

He didn’t speak for a moment and then nodded. “Yes.”

“Then you can learn the rest on your own.”  She ruffled his hair after she stood up and made her way over to the set.

*~*~*

Kanae had come to Kyoko’s set to have lunch with her, but was taken aback by the sight of Hiou-kun talking to her off in the corner.  He seemed frustrated.  A little spike of jealousy forced its way up before she could tamp it down.  Director Shingai came over.

“What’s going on?”  She motioned to the pair off in the corner.

“Kissing lesson, apparently.”  Shingai laughed.

That spike of jealousy got bigger.

“Hiou-kun stopped by the set looking for Kyoko-chan, I didn’t even know he knew her.  He mentioned that he has this scene with an actress that he really admires and doesn’t want her to know that he doesn’t know the first thing about proper stage kisses.  Poor kid, grew up in an acting family, everyone expects him to know it all, but even the best need a lesson or two.”  Shingai was watching the pair.

An actress he really admires?  Is that what he actually thought? That spike of jealousy started to wilt a little.  Did he go to Kyoko because he was too embarrassed to talk to her?

“That was the most perfunctory kiss I’ve ever seen.”  Shingai laughed.  “I hope she’s at least telling him to act when he tries to kiss that actress.”

“Aren’t you doing their first kiss scene today?”

Shingai nodded.  “It’s next up.”

“You should let Hiou-kun watch.  If he’s learned the mechanics then he’ll get the rest from just analyzing Kyoko’s scene.  I don’t think he’s ever thought to analyze a kissing scene before.  I’m sure that Kyoko doesn’t think he needs pointers on _how to act_.”

He nodded.  “Good point.”

“I have to go.”

“Don’t you want to see Kyoko-chan?”

Kanae smiled.  She’d rather neither of them ever find out that she knew.  After all, weren’t they doing this for her benefit?  “That’s all right, I’ll see her tonight.”  And besides, if Kyoko could give Hiou-kun an acting lesson, she must be a little all right.

*~*~*

“Did you learn anything?”

“Could you attempt to not embarrass me, Shingai?”

He tousled Hiou’s hair much like Kyoko had done before she went on set.  He wouldn’t be able to do that much longer.  The kid was already his height.  “It’s too much fun.  Though I think you should stick around and watch this scene. There is nothing like watching a professional weave a web, and Kyoko-chan weaves a very pretty web.”

“Is it a kissing scene?”

“A first kiss scene, even.  I rewrote the script a couple of days ago so that Kyoko-chan would be initiating instead of Araki-kun.  She’s a strong character, and I think that the audience would like to see the moment that she really takes charge of her own life and love.”

Hiou nodded.

He smiled.  “Action!”

The two actors came through a door.  They were standing in the entryway of a dark shop.  Kyoko made to turn on the lights, but the actor stopped her by reaching for her hand.  He didn’t let go of it and held on for a minute before dropping it.

He looked down at the ground before looking back into the actress’s face.  “Good night, Tsukiko-chan.”

Kyoko looked up at him.  “Good night.”  She smiled, then frowned as he took a step back.

“What is it?”

She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to his cheek.  She leaned up, going up on tiptoe until her lips came into contact with his.  It was a gentle kiss, not very long or very deep, but still managed to be intimate and have impact on the audience.  Her lips lingered as she drew away slowly.  “Now it is a good night.”

The two just looked at each other for a minute before Shingai called “Cut!”

“Did you learn something, kid?”

Hiou looked away.  “I think so.”

*~*~*

Kanae looked up at Hiou.  “My, you really aren’t the little boy I used to babysit anymore.  When did you grow up?”

“When you weren’t looking.”  His inflection was softer than the last time they ran the scene.  He paused and put his arm next to her.  “Does it bother you?”

“That you grew up? Of course not.”  She smiled up at him.  “All boys grow up eventually.”

Hiou nodded.  “We do.”  He took his hand, and brushed a strand of hair off her cheek and back over her shoulder.  He stared at her for a few seconds without moving.  The scene was suddenly much more intense.  Then he started to lean in and pressed his lips to hers.  She let her eyes close.  It wasn’t a deep kiss, or particularly skilled, but it was definitely pleasant.  She kissed him back just a little, sucking on his bottom lip just the tiniest of bits.  He pulled away.

“Very grown up,”  she said.

“CUT!  That was great, you two!”

Hiou didn’t move immediately.  He stared at her for a moment before nodding and walking away.

She thought about following him, but didn’t know what to say.  So she just smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is a reference to Chapter 215 of the manga when chief Matsushima is talking to Kanae about how her character and Hiou's character are the wabi and sabi of the drama they are about to start filming.


	8. Managing

 

Yashiro was flipping through her schedule.  “Do you sleep?  Or were the cancellations due to your ankle the first time you had time to sleep?”

Kyoko chuckled.  “I sleep plenty.  More than Ren.  Usually.”

“Your shoot started at seven today and you’re going until eleven tonight, which means you won’t be home until after midnight.”

She lifted the noodles that she was eating to her lips and slurped before answering him.  “It’s a double variety show night, isn’t it?”

“Is this a common occurrence?”

She nodded.  “For the past couple of months I’ve done it a handful of times.”

“And Aya-chan let this happen.”

“Let is the wrong word.  Gave up would be more appropriate.  I might go to hell for stressing out a pregnant woman.”

“And you still had time to... dally?”

Kyoko couldn’t help the blush.  “No fair.  Yukihito-san, are you trying to get details out of me?”

“Of course!  It’s not like Ren would share any.”

Kyoko laughed.  “Occasionally.  Once a week or so when he wasn’t travelling.  So never on a night of a double.  But the thing that you should find really impressive about me is that Ren never skipped breakfast for the last three months when he wasn’t shooting overseas.  Not once.”

Yashiro dropped the page he was looking at.  “It never occurred to me that he never actually stopped bringing his breakfasts.  Coffee in one hand and his breakfast container in the other.  They’d become so commonplace the last couple of years that it didn’t occur to me that if you were really broken up or on a break that he wouldn’t have them.”

“Not even the week we were  _ actually _ broken up, since I had just put the ones for that week in his refrigerator.”

“I don’t know how you managed it.  Kyoko-chan, never leave him.  He won’t eat without you.”

She laughed.  “Well, he hasn’t seemed to starve yet and he’s been gone for almost a month.  With Chiyorin obsessively following the production over there, news of his withering from hunger would be known to us.”

Yashiro looked down at the page.  “I just realised.  You and Ren are filming a commercial together when he gets back.  That day, actually.”

“We are?”  Kyoko actually looked surprised.  “Which one?”

“That new hotel that just opened that boasts the best views of Tokyo at night.”  He looked down again.  “You actually go from that straight to your dinner reservation.”

Kyoko sighed.  “I didn’t have a chance of getting a reservation there without using his name, did I?”

Yashiro smiled.  “Actually, if you’d wanted to go the previous day or the next night, they said they could have made it work.  They did recognise your name, Kyoko-chan.  But Ren is Ren.”

“It’s all right.”  One more week, and then she’d come out of the shadows behind him to stand next to him.  She still didn’t feel very ready.

“I think I may have found a manager, by the way. She should be here soon.”  Yashiro looked up.  “Give her more of a chance than the last three?”

“What you want in a manager for me and what I want are completely different.”  Kyoko closed the container her noodles had come in and set it down.

He chuckled.  A knock on his office door kept him from responding.  “Umehara-chan!  Come in.”

A woman in her mid-twenties, dark hair tied back, wearing a casual business suit, walked in.  “Am I late?”

“Not at all.  We’re just going over Kyoko-chan’s schedule for the next week.  If you are free, I thought you might accompany us since ultimately you would be Kyoko’s manager once Aya-chan comes back.”

She smiled and came in.  “It’s been a long time since I followed you around, learning the ins and outs.”

“Kyoko-chan, this is Umehara Chiho. She started in the management division just a few weeks before your audition.  I was actually responsible for training her at the time; she shadowed me and Ren for a week.  Umehara-chan, this is Kyoko.”

They bowed.  “I take it you don’t have anyone ever call you by your last name?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “It’s a legal requirement for my continued employment at this agency, actually.  I think the President is the only one that still calls me by my surname.”

“A legal requirement?”

She nodded.  “Very much so.  Signed documents and everything.”

Umehara seemed surprised but quickly buried the emotion on her face.  “I’m surprised that you haven’t found a new manager yet.”

“Well, there are some issues.”  Yashiro said.

“Issues?”

“We’re both being picky and looking for different things in my manager.”

Umehara chuckled.  “I didn’t realise that Yukihito-kun was so invested.”

“I’d like to be able to get along with Kyoko-chan’s manager, since we’ll cross paths fairly often.”

“Ah.  Though I don’t recall you working with Ren-san very often, Kyoko-san.”

“We haven’t, but we’re friends and try to work lunches and such into our schedules.  I do the same for Kotonami-san, who you’ll be working with as well for the first few months, and an actress called Amamiya Chiori.”

“The infamous founding members of the Love Me department.”

Kyoko smiled.  “Yashiro-san would also like a manager who… won’t just let me set my own schedule.  He’s been bemoaning it for the last two weeks.”

“It’s worse than Ren’s, Umehara-san.  Worse than  _ Ren’s _ .”

The woman blinked.  “I find that hard to believe.”  She took the planner out of Yashiro’s hands and flipped back through the past couple of months.  “This is too much.  Why did Aya-chan let you do this much?”

Kyoko looked down.  “She gave up.  I recently went through a period of extreme stubbornness.  I went against many of her recommendations, like taking the Nikka whisky campaign.”

“Well then, that was a good call on your part.  I only see good things coming from that campaign.”

“I don’t,” Yashiro groused.  “Are you still interested in following us for a week?”

She nodded.  “I can start tomorrow.”  She flipped through to the following weeks.  “Your schedule gets a bit lighter, is that by design?”

Kyoko nodded.  “It is, just in case things get complicated.”

*~*~*

Kyoko sighed.  “This isn’t going to work.”

“You seemed to like her at lunch yesterday.”  Yashiro whispered.

Kyoko was watching her new manager in potentia ask Director Shingai about what type of actress she was to work with.  “She’d be a better match for Moko-san.”

“A better match?”  Yashiro looked back and forth between Umehara-san and Kyoko.  Then it all clicked.  “Her look.”

Again, Kyoko sighed.  “I’m the Vanishing Actress, but even I don’t want to disappear around my manager.  Yesterday she seemed less severe.  She was dressed slightly more casually, her hair wasn’t in a tight twist and her makeup was softer.  She approved of me taking the Nikka campaign, which was something the others we talked to thought I shouldn’t have.  I felt like it just might work if we could get along.”

Yashiro nodded.  She was dressed much more sharply in a dark pantsuit since she was out representing Kyoko-san.  It was the sort of thing she wore when she was shadowing him and Ren, so Yashiro didn’t think much of it.  But Kyoko had a point.  She didn’t have the stature of Kotonami-san, and was shorter than Umehara-san as it was.  She tended not to dress flamboyantly or in terribly dark colors.  Everything about Kyoko was soft, yet buoyant.  If you stood the two next to each other, Kyoko would sort of fade away and that was the opposite of a manager’s job.  “Aya-chan worked well with you because she’s naturally softer.  Soft-spoken, short, average features, dressed conservatively, but comfortably etc.”

“I can keep Aya-chan, and Moko-san can take Umehara-san.”

Yashiro shook his head.  Kyoko needed someone with more of a backbone than Aya-chan.  And Aya-chan needed someone whose public relation needs wouldn’t be as demanding as Kyoko’s if Ren finally got his way and they went public, which Kyoko hinted was going to happen.

“One more day.  Give her another day.”

*~*~*

She ducked around the corner and took a deep breath.  That woman was never alone anymore.  Ever.  Not since that stroke of luck she’d had at TBM when she was standing there at the top of the stairs.  The glasses man was always with her. and now there was a second one.  Why did such a frumpy, ugly actress need two managers?

She needed to find a way in.  So she could get her out of his heart.

*~*~*

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?”  Kyoko had gone over to Kanae’s after she’d finished for the night. The two had stayed up and watched their various recent appearances on the variety and quiz shows until Kanae started to yawn.  “We can continue our days-long sleepover.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I can’t.  I have a really early radio interview for a morning show, so I should sleep in my own apartment.”  She paused.  “I appreciate you tolerating me the last few nights, Kanae.  Thank you.”

“Ko-ko-chan, I don’t mind.”

“You are never going to let that nickname go.”

“I will always treasure it forever.  It’s just so… perfect.”

“You wield it like a weapon, not a cute nickname.”  Kyoko grabbed her bag from the door.  “I’m going now.”  Kanae’s door closed behind her as Kyoko walked down the hall.  She stopped as she turned to take the stairs down one flight.  It was only one flight.  She swallowed and turned around to take the elevator.

It was stupid.  She should have just gone down the stairs.  No one was out in the hall, and there was no proof that whoever had been targeting her even knew where she lived.  She sighed as she waited for the elevator, but eventually got on anyway and took it down one whole floor.

She berated herself as she walked down the hall to her apartment.  She was being ridiculous.  She looked over her shoulder as she stuck her key in the lock and opened the door.  She hurried inside and closed the door, locking it before leaning back against it.

She took a few deep breaths before walking around and turning on every light.  Then she walked around shutting them all off.  What was she thinking?  She hadn’t felt this panicked until the door to Kanae’s apartment had closed.

_ I have to stop this.  I need to just go to bed and sleep. _

But sleep didn’t come.  Sometime around three in the morning she thought about just taking a cab to Ren’s, her sleep deprived mind momentarily forgetting that Ren wasn’t actually there and wouldn’t be there to curl around.  If he was, she probably would have already been there.

It was too late to call Yashiro and she hadn’t built up a rapport with Umehara-san that would allow for such things as middle-of-the-night calls.  And she could not keep inconveniencing Moko-san.

Briefly she wondered about Chiori, but couldn’t remember if Chiori was leaving for or coming back from a location shoot.  Was it yesterday or today?  Either way, calling would have been rude.

The only person that may have been awake and wouldn’t hesitate to take her call if he wasn’t working was the one person that she couldn’t call.  And the one that she wished she could more than anything.

_ Can’t sleep.  Talk to me? _  She shook her head and deleted the message before she could send it.  He’d wonder too much about what was going on.

Three more hours.  She’d just wait for three more hours, and then Yashiro would be here to pick her up.  She turned to the pile of scripts on her nightstand and picked the top one up.

*~*~*

Kyoko leaned her head against the back of the small couch in Yashiro’s office.  Her eyes felt heavier than they had any right to be at ten o’clock in the morning.  She let them close.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you would be starting so early.  How was the morning radio interview, Kyoko-san?”

She opened her eyes and looked at the door to Yashiro’s office.  Umehara-san was standing there.  Today she’d gone for more neutral colors in an outfit that wasn’t nearly as severe as the suit she wore the previous day.  Everything about her look had changed.  Even her makeup and hairstyle.

Kyoko wished that she could appreciate it more.  She closed her eyes and leaned her head back again.  “It was… good.  I think.  They asked all the right questions and I answered them trying to be as bubbly a morning person as I usually am.”

She could feel Yashiro’s frown from across the room.

“Is something wrong with Kyoko-san?”

Yashiro sighed.  “She didn’t sleep at all last night, and is now running on fumes.  I’m trying to find a hole in her schedule so she can take a nap.  Preferably before she needs to go on camera.”

Kyoko could hear a bunch of pages flipping and some murmuring.  It was the closing of the door that woke her.  She immediately sat up and looked around, and when she realised she was alone, she left the room.  Yashiro and Umehara-san were only a few feet away, talking.

“Did I miss something?”

Umehara-san raised an eyebrow.  “Go back to sleep.  We arranged for your magazine interview to be moved to the afternoon so you could get some rest.”

“I’m fine.”

Yashiro took her by the elbow, and pulled her back into the office and over to the small couch.  “Sit.”  She sat.  He put on his phone glove and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket before dialing a number.  “If you have time, sing a lullaby or something.”  He shoved the phone at her.  “I will be right outside the door.  No one will come in.  I promise.”  And he turned on his heel and left, closing the door behind him.

“Kyoko?”  Kuon’s voice was coming from the speaker of the phone and she put it to her ear.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“I’m supposed to sing you a lullaby now?  Isn’t it mid-morning?”  His voice was like a balm.  A confused and curious balm.

“Is it against the rules if Yashiro-san is making me talk to you?”

The line was quiet and then he chuckled.  “No, I don’t think so.  Is everything all right?”

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night.  I feel like I’m jumping at shadows.”  She just needed to keep enough of her wits about her to not mention the incident with the stairs.  That would defeat the point of not telling him these things for his own safety.  “Tell me what you worked on today?  That way you don’t have to sing.”  She stifled a yawn with her hand.

“We did this ridiculous stunt where we jumped off the roof of a mansion into a swimming pool.  They’re going to edit it in post so that the house will be exploding behind us in a giant fireball.  It’s all very Hollywood.  So it was all location work.  We’ve been shooting there for a couple of days now.”

Instead of responding, Kyoko remembered the time that she’d seen Kuon in Guam coming out of the water.  She thought he’d been Corn.  She wasn’t wrong, but she’d had no idea about his secret identity at the time.  It was a good memory.  “I miss you, Corn.”

“I miss you too.” He paused.  “Tomorrow we’re going up the coast to film a thing involving some motorcycles…”

She took a deep breath and fell asleep.

*~*~*

“Who did you call?”  Umehara was looking through the long glass window next to Yashiro’s office door.  Kyoko had curled up on the couch, the phone Yashiro had pressed in her hands fallen on the floor.  She wondered if whoever it was was still talking.

“Ren.  She always listens to him.  If he tells her to sleep, she’ll sleep.”

Umehara raised an eyebrow.  “And he doesn’t mind getting random calls in the middle of the night while he’s overseas working to tell his kouhai that she should take a nap?”

“They’re friends, remember?”  Yashiro had taken over the desk of one of the junior managers whose cubicle was right outside his office and they were going over Kyoko-chan’s schedule together, looking for more ways to tweak it so to give the girl more time to rest.

Umehara still wasn’t buying his response, though.  “Such good friends that you would call without even thinking about what he’s doing?”

Yashiro looked up at her.  “I’ll admit it was a long shot, but it worked.  So I’ll count myself lucky.  I knew if he had the time, he’d take it.  He probably hung up a minute after he realised she’d fallen asleep, though.”

“Why do you think she wasn’t sleeping, anyway?  I know her schedule is packed, but she still has time to sleep.”

Yashiro nodded.  “We’ve been dealing with a st…”  He shook his head.  “A situation.  It’s unnerved her, so when she came in not having slept, I wasn’t surprised.  She probably felt that two or three days staying with Kotonami-san at night was pushing the limits of their friendship.”

“She’s scared to sleep alone?”

He nodded.  “I think so.  There’s only a few more days to get through, though.”  

“How do you know that she’ll start sleeping better in a few days?”

Yashiro looked past her and through the window.  “Call it a hunch.”

*~*~*

Kuon looked around.  It’d been a waste of a drive.  If he’d bothered to actually look at the starting point on a map, he would have realised he could have walked there.  Though walking would have given him more time to think, and thinking wasn’t a thing that he particularly wanted to do.

Why had Kyoko been so tired that she wasn’t sleeping?  He’d known her for years, and the only time he’d known her not to be able to sleep was that night he’d dragged her into his bed because of how badly things were going on the  _ Tragic Marker _ set -- and he was sure that had more to do with an uncomfortableness of feeling than anything else.  But a situation like that one  _ couldn’t _ arise again.  Since they’d started sleeping together, actually _ sleeping _ , he’d noticed that her sleep tended to be much more peaceful than his.  He wasn’t surprised by that.  Not sleeping, though…

The way she described it was almost as if she’d watched a horror movie before bed and was having nightmares.  But why not say that?  He sighed.  She had never been one to watch that sort of thing, and he wasn’t even sure she’d have that particular reaction…

“Earth to Kuon.  We’re starting.”

He snapped out of his reverie and started over to the motorcycle he was riding.  “Sorry.”  He wasn’t particularly familiar with motorcycles, but had driven them before and had made a point to rack up driving time over the last week before attempting this stunt.  It wasn’t a particularly hard one, anyway.

Taylor was already straddling his bike.  He was the one who would have the more difficult aspects this time.  “What were you thinking about anyway?”

Kuon pointed down the beach a ways.  “I should have walked.”  He paused.  “Though if my parents knew how close the location was, they might have come with me.”

The director had overheard him.  “Kuu?  Does Kuu want to visit the set?  And he lives right over there?  I’ll give him a call!”

Kuon sighed.  “Should have kept my mouth shut.”

*~*~*

Kyoko tucked into her bento.  It was the last day of shooting on the drama, so the cast who were on set that day had crowded around the long table they’d brought in and were eating lunch together.  She’d even convinced Yashiro and Umehara-san to join in.

They were laughing at a funny story that Togo-san was in the middle of telling when Chiori ran onto the set.

“Excuse me, Director Shingai!  I happened to be at Fuji today myself, and I thought I’d run over here to share some really important news with Kyoko-senpai instead of calling.”  She didn’t wait for the director to accept her apology and just handed her phone to Kyoko.  “My alert for ‘ _ Zero Day _ ’ went off, and I checked it when we went on lunch break.  It’s big enough news to even be covered on the Japanese news sites.”

Kyoko tilted her head to the side and looked down.  Yashiro looked over her shoulder.

**ACCIDENT AT ZERO DAY LOCATION SITE**

 


	9. City on Fire

 

**ACCIDENT AT ZERO DAY LOCATION SITE**

Kyoko’s heart leapt into her throat.  She could clearly see Kuu and Juliena in the picture that accompanied the article.  Juliena was clutching her husband’s arm tightly with both hands.  She quickly read through the article.  One of the motorcycles had lost traction on the road and skidded and one of the others had gotten in the way, leading to a larger accident.  Both main stunt men and the two lead actors were in the accident, but no information on how they were or the effect the accident would have on the production schedule was available at the time of the article being written.  The production was being tight lipped about it.

Kyoko glanced at Yashiro and then over at Chiori.  She knew her immediate reaction had to have shown on her face.  Hopefully they’d just all taken it for shock and not the abject terror that it was.

“I should call Kuu.”

“Kyoko-chan?”  Director Shingai had spoken.

“Oh.  There was an accident during filming of that movie Amamiya-san and I were working on.  One of the actors is Kuu’s son, Kuon.  He was very nice to us on set--”

“Nicer to some than others,” Chiori muttered.

Kyoko ignored the jab.  “--and I thought I’d call his father and see if he was all right.  If you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.  Go ahead.”

She didn’t go very far away.  The crew could still see her and she felt their eyes boring into her.  She slid her finger up through her contacts until she came to Kuu’s cell number and hit ‘Call’.

*~*~*

Kuu started and stood up from where he was sitting in the hospital waiting room.  His wife pointed at the “no cell phone usage” sign, but when he saw who the call was from he ignored it and hit accept.

Julie sighed.

“Kyoko-chan?”

“Kuu. Um.  Hello?”

“I thought I’d be hearing your lovely voice much more this past month than I have.  I think my selfish son hasn’t been sharing.”

The line crackled and he could hear the slightest break in her voice when she spoke.  “Then he’s all right?  You wouldn’t joke like that if Kuon-san was actually hurt.”

“Kuon-san?”  He raised an eyebrow in reaction and looked over at where Kuon was sitting, looking expectantly at him.  Sort of like a puppy.  “He’s fine.  A little battered and bruised, but his face came out unscathed, so he’s still the handsome man you’ve always known.”

He heard her sigh of relief.

“I know you’d have to leave him if he just wasn’t as handsome anymore.”  He walked over to Kuon and lifted his hand up to flick him in the forehead when his son held out his hand for the phone. Kuon jerked away.  “He wants to talk to you.  I’ll give him the phone.”

“No!  No.  Please, you don’t need to take any more time away from your family.  I just... I just stepped away from lunch to make this call.  The crew is all waiting for me to come back.  I just wanted to know if Kuon-san was all right.”

All the Kuon-sans finally made sense.  Her voice was quiet, but Kuu could hear the struggle she was having to keep it measured.  No doubt she felt that she wouldn’t have been able to do it if she actually talked to Kuon.  Every actor had a weakness.  His son was hers.  He was sure the weakness was mutual.  “Yes, he’s all right.  We’re at the hospital, but not for him.  His co-star, Taylor, is in surgery for his foot.”

“James-san?”

“Production didn’t want to release any information since they were so close to wrapping.  They’re trying to see if there’s a way they can film Kuon’s part and Taylor’s part separately in order to still make the production’s deadline.”

“I see.  I should go.  Yashiro-san and Amamiya-san are waiting to find out what you’ve told me.”

“All right, Kyoko-chan.  I’ll see you soon.  If not before the year is out, then for the premiere early next summer.”

“I look forward to it, Otou-san.  Goodbye.”

“Bye-bye.”  He hung up his phone and put in back into his pocket.  Kuon was glaring at him.

“She couldn’t talk to you.  Specifically asked not to.  Besides, weren’t you the one that said you weren’t speaking?”

“You should have given me the phone anyway.”

“She was at lunch with the crew of her drama and was barely managing to keep her voice even.  I think she might have started crying if she heard yours.  And that’s why she didn’t want to talk to you.”  He put his hand on his son’s head.  “You’ll probably hear from her in the morning once she’s home from work for the day and no one can hear her.  She’s as serious about her career as you are about yours.”

*~*~*

Kyoko didn’t call.  He got another message saying she was glad he was safe with another of their sheep emojis, but that was it.  Kuon sighed.  He’d take it.  He’d have liked to talk to her, but she was sticking to the rules, for the most part. 

They were taking a break.  It was a thing they were bad at, but Kyoko would try until the very end.  

He’d have to go back to LA for a long weekend or maybe a week once Taylor’s foot healed.  They had two more scenes and then the movie would officially wrap.  They’d redone the motorcycle scene, swapping out Taylor for a stuntman.  His parents weren’t happy that he decided to redo the stunt himself, but in the end it had turned out fine.

He pulled his hat down lower on his head and slipped on his sunglasses.  In the past he would have walked through the airport just looking like himself, but with the press of  _ Zero Day _ and his break into Hollywood as Kuu’s son, he wasn’t going to take any chances.  He had a year left before he merged his names.

Kuon only took his hat and sunglasses off when he reached passport control.  The woman working couldn’t hide her shock when she took his passport, but quickly managed to school her face into the passive indifference that government officials were trained to project at every single airport he’d passed through in his entire life.  She scanned it and motioned him through.

The cab dropped him off at the president’s villa.  “Sebastian” was there to take his large suitcase.  He’d probably find it in the trunk of his car when he was ready to leave.  He held onto the smaller carry-on, however.  He’d need the contents.  When he walked into Jelly’s studio, he was surprised to see Yashiro waiting for him.  He smiled.

“This is new.”

“No, this is strange.”  Yashiro bowed in greeting.  “I hope your travels were safe?”

He nodded.  “No complaints, but we’re going to have to find room in my schedule for another trip to LA so I can wrap the movie.”

He sat down in the chair and let Jelly wrap the styling cape around his neck.  “Work, work, work.  Is that all you ever do?  You should have more fun.”

“How badly injured are you?”  Yashiro asked.

“My shoulder is really bruised, but I don’t think I have to do any scenes without a shirt on in that new drama, so we should be fine until it heals.  It’s stiff, but doesn’t really hurt.  Anymore, at any rate.  It just looks awful.”  He looked at Yashiro through the corner of his eye.  “How’s Kyoko?”

Yashiro opened his mouth and then closed it again.  He took a deep breath.  “I don’t know how to answer that question.  She was worried about you.”

He would have nodded, but Jelly was still working her magic on his hair.  This was going to take a while.  “I guess I’ll find out at dinner tonight.”

Yashiro smiled.  “She has been looking forward to that.  Apparently she’s wanted to go for years.  Something about it having  _ two _ Michelin stars.  But first you have that commercial shoot with her.  Did you know that you’d both been cast?”

“No.  Not until you mentioned something.  She wasn’t giving me rundowns of what she’d be working in while we were on our break.  So I have no idea what her schedule is like anymore.”

Yashiro lost a little color.  “Consider yourself fortunate,” he muttered.

He was sure he didn’t want to know what Yashiro meant by that, so he changed the subject.  “Though now that you know about all this, I can work with you on making sure things run smoothly.  Contracts and confidentiality agreements have been signed.  Tokyo is officially getting a Hollywood premiere.  They’re doing the Asian premiere here.  Which means that instead of waiting as they usually do to dub the movie and release it months to a year late, they want it ready as soon as possible.  Since I actually speak Japanese, and it’ll be announced right before the movie premiere that I’ve been working as Tsuruga Ren here in Japan, I need to dub my own lines.  I don’t know what studio they’re using, though.”

“Studio Sakura.  They reached out to Kyoko to ask if she wanted to dub herself.  She has to go in for two days for fifteen minutes of screen time.  Nothing is on the books yet, though, since they don’t know when they’ll get the film and timing script.  I have a feeling that these sessions are really going to eat into your work schedule.”  Yashiro sighed.

“Have you found her a manager?”

Yashiro nodded.  “Do you remember Umehara-chan?”

“Umehara-chan?”  He nodded.  She’d been a pretty but austere woman around his age when she was in training.  “I can’t imagine her fitting well with Kyoko, though.  Besides, I thought she was working for one of the dowagers.”

“The dowagers” was the President’s affectionate nickname for a group of older actresses that were no longer the main stars of the Japanese entertainment industry, but still had quite a bit of clout.

“Ah, yes, she was just released from that contract and replaced with a junior manager since Moto-san said she no longer required a full time manager, and that it’d be a waste for Umehara-chan to only be managing a part-time actress at this point.”  He grinned.  “I cornered her the moment I found out.” His eyes took on a conspiratorial glint.  “And I figured out how to make her fit with Kyoko-chan after Kyoko-chan threatened to keep Aya-chan and give Umehara-chan to Kotonami-san.”

“You don’t like working with Aya-chan?  She’s a nice woman.”

“Aya-chan is exceptionally nice and has done quite a good job with the girls, but Kyoko-chan has run roughshod over that poor woman, and I only discovered the extent to which when I took over her duties.  No, Kyoko-chan definitely needs a manager with a firmer hand.  And one that won’t flinch at hard questions from the press.”  The look he gave him was quite pointed.

“Ok, I’m just going to let this set.”  Jelly smiled down at him.  “I’ll let you two continue your talk.  I’m going to find Darling!”  She looked over her shoulder when she reached the door.  “You should eat lunch while you wait.”

Why did everyone try to feed him?  Yashiro held out a bento box.  It was not a store-bought one.

“From Kyoko-chan.  She thought you might be hungry.”

He smiled and took it.  There was one person who he didn’t mind reminders about eating from.  At least not anymore.  It was even better when she supplied the food.

*~*~*

When he stepped back out into the studio from the changing room, he looked completely different.  The white button down he’d had on had been replaced with a soft black t-shirt covered by the sports coat he’d left behind in Jelly’s studio a month ago.  The jeans were replaced with dress pants. The only thing that remained were the shoes.  While he’d worn the casual dress shoes without socks when he’d arrived, he’d slipped on a pair of dark ones.  Even his necklace was different.  He’d worn a shorter chain when dressed as Kuon, and now his longer chain with its pendant was back.  Rick’s watch, however, was always with him.

He raised an eyebrow at Yashiro’s startled look.  “You’ve seen me dress like this for years.”

Yashiro nodded.  “This whole conversion from Hizuri Kuon to Tsuruga Ren is quite fascinating, I must say.”

“I didn’t do it very often until I started working overseas as well.  There was once when my father visited, so I could record a video for my mother, and there were instances where I’d have a chance to slip into Kuon during the filming of  _ Tragic Marker _ when we were going to Guam, but I didn’t take off the costume of Tsuruga Ren for five years before that.”

“So, who is the real you?  You don’t act like Ren when you’re Kuon.  But Kuon doesn’t seem unlike you, either.”

Ren sighed.  “That’s the question, isn’t it?  I guess we’ll find out next year, when I reveal who I really am to the media.  I think there is a person who already knows the answer, though.”

“Who?”

“Kyoko.”  He smiled.  “Shall we go see her?  She should already be at the hotel, getting ready for filming.”

Yashiro nodded and followed Ren out of the President’s villa and to his car.

*~*~*

Chiho stood over to the side and watched as the makeup artist worked on Kyoko.  This week alone, she’d seen that actress turn into four different characters.  She found herself idly wondering if the reason that she didn’t grow her hair out past her shoulders was just to accommodate the number of wigs she wore.

There was no wig today, however.  They’d added a bit of curl and bounce to her chestnut hair and pinned a bit up with a large flower.  The director said they were going for fresh and young, but daring, not innocent.  They wanted to appeal to the young and fun crowd that wanted spectacular views of Tokyo, a rich-feeling atmosphere, but without destroying their bank account.

Kyoko was pretty perfect for the role just as she was.  Chiho had learned that much in the last week.  And today had probably been the best day she’d worked with her.  The girl had seemed a bit subdued the last few days, but today she was full of  _ joie de vivre _ .

Chiho looked over as people entered the room.  Tsuruga Ren had finally arrived on set.  She hadn’t really seen him much since she’d shadowed him while learning how to manage talent from Yashiro.  Her actress had never worked with him.  Heard about him though, as “shop talk” with Yashiro was really the only things they ever had to talk about.  Managers for people like Ren lived for their talent.  The man was as attractive as always.  He bowed his head toward her and smiled.

She’d forgotten about his smile, too, and looked away.  The man was too attractive for his own good and knew it.

Kyoko hadn’t even looked over her shoulder.  The makeup artist had her chin in her hand as she worked on Kyoko’s eyes.  When she pulled her hand away, Kyoko finally spoke.  “You’re practically late, Ren.”

His smile in Kyoko’s direction was different from the one he’d given her.  There was something about it that Chiho didn’t understand and couldn’t place.  “I was speaking to the director.  You, of all people, Kyoko, know that I am never late.”  She also hadn’t really expected their level of familiarity with each other.  Kyoko was always using honorifics, but with him, she did not.

“Don’t laugh.”  The makeup artist scolded Kyoko.  “I’m not done with you yet.”

A different artist led Ren over to a chair set up on the other side of the room, and Yashiro walked over to join her.  “They really are friends, aren’t they?”

He nodded.  “They weren’t always.  In fact, Ren hated her when he first met her, but I knew he was so fascinated by her that he’d give in eventually, and he did.  It only took six months, maybe a little longer to become friends.”  He looked back and forth between the two.  “They have very similar work ethics, which helps.  This was the first time they’ve seen each other in a month, and all they did was joke around for a minute.  Kyoko-chan didn’t even look at him.”

“Yet she still knew he’d come in the room.”

Yashiro gestured and Chiho followed his hand.  The mirror.  She’d seen him in the mirror.

“I’ve been to shoots where the women will stop being made up with only one eye done just so that they can say hello to him.  It’s rather ridiculous.”

Chiho muffled a laugh.  She could picture it, actually.  It really would look ridiculous.  “So I’m lucky that my charge is more level-headed than that?”

“Level-headed is the wrong word.  You’ve seen what she’s done to her work schedule when left to her own devices.  And she’s prone to flights of fancy.  She does not get star-struck easily, however.”

“That’s right, she’ll even call Hizuri Kuu like it’s nothing and have a conversation with him.”

“I can honestly say that I’ve never met anyone like either of these two in the Japanese entertainment industry.” 

Kyoko had finished and had walked over to where Ren was getting the last of his makeup applied.  “How’s the jetlag?”

“I stayed up all night watching movies and slept on the plane.  I’m fine.”  He turned his head a little to glance at her.  “I won’t fall asleep during dinner.  I’d hate to disappoint you.”

Kyoko smiled and then turned to walk out of the room.

“ _ He’s _ her dinner date?  I thought she was meeting that Amamiya-san girl.”

Yashiro nodded.  “Dinner with Ren.  To celebrate a successful overseas film shoot for him.”

“Ah.  So I should be prepared for rumors?”

“We’ll sit down and talk about it in the morning.”  Yashiro smiled at her.

Chiho nodded and headed out of the room after Kyoko.

*~*~*

The director was walking through the shot with them.  “And when you open the door to the bedroom, we’ll film you opening the door, but then I want you to get in place in the middle of the circle track.”  She sighed.  “I cast the two of you because everyone knows that you’re such good friends, and you’ve got this great fun chemistry, but I’ll admit that I’m worried about this part.”

Kyoko and Ren looked at each other, then the director.  “It’s just a kiss, right?”  Ren’s question was dismissive.

“Well, yes, but there has to be promise, desire, and fun.  It’s not like a drama kiss.  It’s  _ fun _ .”

Kyoko smiled at her.  “I’m sure that Ren and I won’t have a problem.  We’ve worked together before.”

“But you haven’t had an onscreen kiss since that one drama almost two and a half years ago, and it was sort of awkward.  The director on that was a friend of mine, and had been shocked at how awkward it was.  It worked out in the end, but I heard there were difficulties, that the staging needed to be changed, etc.  And you haven’t worked in any other romantic roles together since then--”

Ren bowed.  “Yes, I understand what you are saying, but I agree with Kyoko-san now.  This won’t be a problem for us.”

_ Mostly because when we filmed that last kiss, we were both dealing with feelings of unrequited love for the other and burying it had become hard for both of us.   _ It had been that kiss that had led to them finally going out.  Though neither of them had thought they were on a date, it had been a date.  Their first and their last.  Until now.  He looked down at Kyoko.  They’d come a long way since then.

“Well then, if you’re sure, let’s give it a try.”

They went back down to the lobby, and the director cued the music that would play over the commercial.  It would just be on repeat.  It was to help them maintain the feel of the commercial.  

They went to their starting marks.

“Action!”

Ren smiled as Kyoko walked toward him with a smile on her face and her hand outstretched. She had a little bounce to her step and he didn’t hesitate to grab her hand in his as they walked across to the lobby.

The next shot was the bar and lounge off to the side.  They laughed and drank the tea that served as their whisky stand-in as extras pressed in around them.

Then they moved on to the scene where they were taking the elevator.  It had just turned dark enough to film.  The elevator was encased with glass, and you could see the lights of Tokyo beyond.  It was a pretty spectacular view.  He leaned in closer to Kyoko and blew in her ear.  She laughed and looked at him as he pressed his hand against the glass of the elevator before turning around to look out at the city.  He rested his palm against her hip.

Filming them walking down the hall sped by and before they knew it, they were at the scene the director worried about so much.

*~*~*

Yashiro and Chiho were standing in the adjoining room of where they’d be filming, behind where the director was sitting.  From their position, they had a good view of the monitors.

“She looks worried.”  Chiho gestured to the director.

“It’ll be fine.  I told you, they’re professionals.”

“OK, we’re going to start.  Action!”

Ren opened the door with one hand.  Kyoko had his other hand enclosed in both of hers as he brought her in the room.  They didn’t break character while they moved gingerly into the middle of the circle track and Ren spun her under his arm.  Their smiles were the contagious kind.  The director was watching the monitors closely.  Chiho couldn’t help but do the same.  Ren looked down at Kyoko for what seemed forever as the camera moved in a circle around them.  Then he leaned down and kissed her.  She brought her hands up around his neck and he pressed his own to her back.

The camera circled once, and then again, and then again.  And the two just kept kissing in the center as if they weren’t even being filmed.

“Cut!”

Chiho let out a breath that she didn’t realise she’d been holding.  She looked over at Yashiro. He was smiling and looking down, away from the monitors.  Everyone else was quiet and pointedly staring at the monitors, so she turned back to look herself.  Ren and Kyoko were still kissing.

The director coughed.  “Maybe they didn’t hear me?”

But before she could call ‘cut’ again, Ren pulled away from Kyoko and smiled.  He whispered something to her and then dropped his hands.  He looked through the now-open adjoining door at the director with a smile.  “Is that what you wanted?  Was the take good?  If not, we can try again.”

*~*~*

“I need to go home and change.”  Ren looked over at Yashiro.  “Do you need a ride back to your car?”

Yashiro nodded and grabbed their bags. “Please.  I left it at LME.”

Ren walked over to where Kyoko was getting her makeup removed by the assistants.  He put his hand on her back and bent down.  “I’m leaving first.  Narisawa?”

She nodded and didn’t say a thing.

When Kyoko came out from the changing room she wasn’t in the simple outfit that she’d been wearing when they came.  She’d put on a cocktail dress not unlike the one that she’d been wearing in the commercial they’d just filmed, though this one had significantly less back.

“Do you need me to accompany you?”

Kyoko shook her head as they walked out.  “I’m just going to take a cab to the restaurant.  Ren will see me home from there.”

“All right.”

Kyoko smiled at her.  “I talked to Kotonami-san.  If you still want the job in the morning, Umehara-san, it’s yours.  The head of the acting department will have the contract.”  Kyoko slid into the cab and gave the driver the location.

*~*~*

Ren tapped the side of his whisky glass.  He’d been waiting almost a half hour for Kyoko.  It wasn’t like her to be late.  In fact, he couldn’t remember a time she’d been late since that one  _ Box “R” _ readthrough.  

That was ages ago.

Did she change her mind at the last minute?  But she would have called, he was sure of that much.  He sighed.  

“Are you still waiting for your companion to return, Tsuruga-san?”  One of the waitstaff had approached the table.

He turned to look at the man.  “Return?”

“Yes, your dinner companion was here and left a couple of minutes before you arrived to speak to another woman.”

Did Umehara need to talk to her about something and that was why Kyoko was missing?  He took his phone out of his pocket and asked where he could make a call.  He walked past the maître d' and into the hallway before dialing.

He heard a phone start to ring down the hall and looked up.  A young woman was picking up a phone from the floor.  As she approached, he could tell that the sparkly, jewel-encrusted princess case was Kyoko’s.

He turned to the maître d'.  “My apologies, it seems that my companion and I won’t be able to have dinner tonight.”  His voice was calm even though he didn’t feel it.  “I hope that you’ll be able to accommodate us in the near future again.”  He placed ¥ 25,000 on the guest book.  “For the whisky and the inconvenience.”  He bowed and left after taking Kyoko’s phone from the woman who had picked it up.

As soon as he was outside, he called Yashiro.

“Shouldn’t you be in the middle of dinner?”

“Yes, I should.  Kyoko didn’t arrive.”

There was a long pause.  “Umehara-chan said she put Kyoko into the cab herself and even heard her give the address.”

He sighed.  “The waitstaff had seen her, she’d been there, but a woman asked to talk to her and she left and never came back.  Her phone was near the exit.”

Yashiro didn’t say anything.  A cold fear gripped Ren’s heart.  “There’s something that I don’t know.”

“We need to contact the detective.  I should do that, he knows me.  And you…”

“And I need to find Kyoko.  Tell me what is going on.”  Yashiro still didn’t reply.  “ **_Now._ ** ”

“The stalker hasn’t actually been quiet, so to say, since you’ve left.”  Yashiro sighed.  “And you were never the target.  I just didn’t think it was a woman.”

“The stalker has been going after Kyoko?”

“Yes.”

And he realised.  “Her ankle…”

“Someone loosened the tiles in her dressing room at Fuji and she tripped.”

“And why she couldn’t sleep?”

“Someone pushed her down the stairs at TBM and she became scared that they knew where she lived.  She’s been staying with Kotonami-san since.”

There was a rushing sound in his ears.  He got into his car and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.

Yashiro started talking again.  “It was the President’s idea to not tell you.  As it is, Kyoko blamed herself for the motorcycle accident even though your father told her that you weren’t hurt.  If she hadn’t told you she had trouble sleeping, she thought you wouldn’t have been in the accident at all.”

“So you’ve all been hiding this from me?”  He took a deep breath.

“Yes.  I haven’t even told Umehara-chan.”

He squeezed his eyes shut.  “Yashiro.”

“I’m sorry, Ren.”

“You should be.  You call the detective.  I’m calling the investigator I hired.  There was a message from him.  I thought I’d deal with it tomorrow.  That was obviously a mistake.”  He hung up and looked in the rearview mirror.  That was a look he hadn’t seen in his eyes for a very long time.  Whoever had taken Kyoko had better run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a new chapter on Friday. :)
> 
> Actually this chapter makes reference to their first date, which I actually wrote up as a little side story that I'm thinking of posting, but I didn't want to post it before it was mentioned in the main story. Any interest?


	10. Crazy Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late being posted, but after a teething baby kept me up all night, all I wanted to do was sleep. :P

Ren walked into the beat-up little office.  Shigenoi Kazuhiko’s operation was small, cramped and messy, much like the man behind the desk.  He was slightly older than Ren’s father and yet his hair was in a spiky disarray, and he was constantly readjusting his glasses over his pale golden brown eyes.

If he didn’t have a reputation for being so good, Ren would never have bothered with the man.

“I thought you didn’t want any personal contact?”

“As I said over the phone, things have changed.  There is some additional information.  There were two further attacks on Kyoko-san that I have only just learned of.  But the most important matter is that Kyoko-san has gone missing.”

“Do you think it is related?”

Ren took a deep breath.  If he wanted to find Kyoko, he’d have to be honest.  “I am about ninety-five percent sure that it is related.”

Shigenoi leaned forward.  “Usually people tell me that they are one hundred percent sure.”

“As it only just happened, I am waiting to hear back from some friends to see if she could possibly be with them.”

“Well, you tell me the details that I don’t know and then we’ll move on to the things that I do.  Though I think we might have to get the police involved since my usual methods for getting the man to talk aren’t working.”

When Ren had finished Shigenoi leaned back.  “This is not what I was expecting.  You’re sure the waiter told you it was a female?”

Ren nodded.  “Another woman, he said.”

“Given the location, she had to have been dressed to impress.  She couldn’t have been taken by force.  Kyoko-san had to have been taken by a person she knows.”  He paused.  “Her family.  I don’t know her family name or anything about them.  Is it possible that they could be involved?”

Ren shook his head.  “It would be hard to believe.  She doesn’t have a father and saying that her relationship with her mother is strained is an understatement.”

The man frowned.  “It’s still possible, but I think we should continue with the idea that she’s been taken by someone who is jealous of the attention you pay her.  Other than the names you gave me during our last conversation, are there any others?  Past lovers?  Jealous would be girlfriends?”

Ren sighed.  There were more than he could count in the last category, but none that he thought would resort to that sort of behavior.  He shook his head.

“All right, I’ll work on this some more.  I assume you want to pay for full time?”

“I want you to start now.”

“Of course.”

Ren stood and bowed.  “I will contact you if I have any further news.”

*~*~*

Ren was staring at the wall when Yashiro entered his apartment early the next morning.  He could just make out what he saying over the music playing in his ear.

“You didn’t sleep.”

He took out his earbuds and shook his head.  “No, I didn’t.  Did you really think I would?”

His manager sighed.  “No, but I had a futile hope that you would have passed out at some point.  If you don’t sleep, you can’t function.”  Yashiro stopped next to his chair.  As if predicting the next words, Ren lifted the glass of whisky to his lips.  “How much have you had?”

“A lot.”  He sighed.  “I had to convince my father to not fly here immediately.  It was a long conversation.”

“Did you call Saena-san?”

He waved his hand in a vague “no” manner.  “I’m trying to decide if that conversation is better drunk or sober.  How do you tell a mother that her daughter is missing when you aren’t even sure that she’ll  _ care _ ?”

“She cared when Kyoko-chan ran away from Kyoto with Fuwa.”

Ren narrowed his eyes.  “Not enough to do anything.”  Ren sighed and stuck one of his earbuds back in.  He let the music wash over him again.  It let him maintain his focus on what needed to be done, and vent his anger at whatever unknown person had taken his Kyoko away.  “What’s my schedule today?”

“You can’t seriously be thinking of working?  One, you’re really drunk, and two--”

“I wanted to know who I should call personally to apologize for my absence.”  He sighed and reached for the handset and made the first call to the name that Yashiro pointed out.

Sometime during the second call, his apartment door opened.  He whipped his head around, hoping to see Kyoko walking through the door, but instead it was just the President.  He glared at the man for the remainder of the call he was on.

“So Kuu called,” the President said when Ren had finally hung up the phone.

“Did you explain to him why?  Am I going to get the ‘it was for your own good’ explanation?”

“Kuon--”

“Ren.  Dark hair, dark eyes means Ren.  Those are the rules, you aren’t exempt.”  Mostly he just didn’t want to hear his real name when he was so very angry.  Using the mask of Ren was a crutch, but one he was clinging to.

“Fine, Ren.  No one saw this coming.”

“Funny, it seems like the logical conclusion when you put all the pieces next to each other.  The stalker was obviously escalating--”

“And what would you have done while you were in LA, had you known?”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

The President crossed the rest of the distance between them and hugged Ren where he was sitting.  Ren shuddered.  He’d never admit to crying.

*~*~*

Kyoko opened her eyes and looked at an unfamiliar ceiling -- except it was familiar at the same time.  She shook her head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs in her mind.  She was supposed to be having dinner with Ren, but… 

She tried to lift her hand to rub at her eyes, but she couldn’t.  She couldn’t even feel her arms.  “Ren?”

“He’s not here.”

Kyoko knew that voice.  She’d talked to her last night at the restaurant.  Said that something happened to Sho’s parents and Sho couldn’t reach her because he didn’t have her phone number anymore, and she’d seen Kyoko go into the restaurant and followed her in.  Told her to come with her out to her car, so she could talk to Sho real quick to find out what happened.

“You’re a better actress than you used to be, Mimori-chan.”

Mimori’s face swam into focus above her.  Yes, she was a much better actress than she had been, and Kyoko was still too naive and didn’t even think that this girl could have been any danger to her.  She swallowed.  Her throat was so dry, and everything was still really blurry.

“I gave you some sleeping pills.  I didn’t know how much to give you, so I guessed.”

“How--”

“Did I get you up here?  I had the building security help me.  I told them you were my friend and had too much to drink, and were just going to sleep it off in my apartment.  This building is really good like that.”

Ren’s ceiling.  The ceiling looked like Ren’s ceiling.  “You live in Ren’s building?”

“I bet he’s right below us, worrying about you.  Because he actually loves you.  Why do you deserve it?”

“Right below?  Deserve?  I thought you loved Sho.”

“I do!  And don’t call him that!  You use proper forms of address with everyone! Even the person who kidnapped you, but you call him just Sho.”

“I’d call him Shotaro, but he keeps covering my mouth when I do, and I don’t want his hands on me.  I don’t want to be polite to the pompous ass that is Shotaro.  Better?”

Mimori cried.  “No!  Don’t call him that horrible name.  It’s not his name.”

“It is, but I don’t suppose he told you that.”  Kyoko took a deep breath.  Yashiro had gone over what to do if she was cornered by a stalker.  Try to keep them happy without endangering yourself.  Play into their fantasy as much as possible, and try to convince them to let you go or to take you out in public.  She wasn’t sure how she was going to do it, but she needed to try something.  “Mimori-chan, can you please untie me, I can’t feel my arms.”  That was the only thing that made sense, that her arms were tied and had fallen asleep, then she couldn’t feel them.  If she could get untied, she could probably overpower the smaller woman. And if she was actually in Ren’s building, she could run to his apartment.  She didn’t have her key with her, but maybe it could work.  She could even go to security and try to get their help.  Or to a phone.  But she needed to get her arms untied.

“No.  No, I won’t.  I need you tell Sho-chan that you don’t love him.”

“Fine.  Call him and I’ll tell him a million times.”  She would too.  She’d even count.

Mimori looked down at her.  “No.  It needs to be in person.  He won’t believe it if it’s just your voice.”

Even better.  “I’ll do it, Mimori-chan.  Please I want to.  Just call Sho-chan and tell him to come here, and I’ll tell him over and over that I hate him until he believes me and you’re happy.”  She paused.  “Or we could go to him.  Take me to to Sho-chan so I can tell him.”

She shook her head and frowned.  “I don’t believe you.  I think that you’re lying.  Of course you want Sho-chan.  Everyone wants him.”  She moved away and Kyoko let out a little cry.  “I have work, stay here.”  She rolled Kyoko over onto her stomach.

This was worse.  At least when she was on her back she had some leverage.  But she could at least move her fingers.  The feeling of stabbing needles as her nerves started firing again was horrible and she whimpered, but if she could just get her fingers really moving, maybe she could work her way out of… Now that feeling was coming back, she could feel the metal.  She wasn’t tied at all, she was handcuffed.  

She was going to kill Sho, because this  _ had _ to be his fault.  What had he said to Mimori?

*~*~*

Yashiro sighed.  “I can’t think of anyone you haven’t already listed.”  They were all around the table in the President’s villa.  The President had gone to see if any of his contacts had seen or heard something that could lead them to Kyoko.

Kanae sighed.  “She didn’t run away.  She wouldn’t have.  She was practically walking on air when she left my apartment yesterday morning, convinced that everything was going to be awesome.”  She looked at Ren.  “After all, you were back.”

Ren didn’t look at her.  He was avoiding looking up.  Looking up meant being able to see the light.

Chiori crossed her arms and glared at him.  “You are practically a waste of space and air.  Getting drunk, really?  That was your great plan to find Kyoko last night?”

He groaned.  “I know.”  Why did Kyoko have to have a friend who could make her voice so very shrill?

Yashiro took pity on him and handed him a pair of sunglasses.  Ren put them on.

Chiori tilted her head to the side.  “Maybe we’re thinking of it the wrong way.”

Kanae was just glaring in general.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, when  _ I _ pushed Kyoko down the stairs, I was furious at her, and not because of her relationship with Tsuruga-kun. She wasn’t even in one at the time.  I think if I’d hated her because she was with Tsuruga-kun I would have tried to damage her in a way that would make her unappealing to him, you know?”

Kanae stared at her.  “I never thought how hateful of a person you could be would come in handy, but you’re right.”

“So who hates Kyoko-chan? And not because of Ren?”  Yashiro leaned forward.

Everyone around the table was quiet in thought.  Not many people hated Kyoko at all.  Especially so much that they’d try to hurt her.

“Fuwa Sho.”

Everyone looked at Ren.  He’d slipped the sunglasses back off.  

Chiori scoffed.  “What?  He doesn’t hate her.  It’s obvious that he doesn’t hate her, or he wouldn’t get upset at stupid things all the time.  You really are useless.”

Ren shook his head.  “I know he doesn’t hate her.  He’s in love with her.  What I’m saying is that it’s possible that it’s not  **_me_ ** that the person is upset about, but  **_Fuwa_ ** and his obsession with her.  The investigator asked me if there was anyone that would get mad at the attention I paid Kyoko, but maybe it wasn’t me.  Maybe it was attention Fuwa was paying her.  You said that the ankle incident happened after Fuwa had come to the set and made a scene.”

Yashiro nodded.  “That actually makes sense.  It was her first day back on set after that.”

“And the stairs?  Had she run into him again?”

Another nod.  “He’d asked about her ankle.  Looked pretty worried and was about to say something else before I stepped in, since I didn’t want there to be another scene.”

Ren sighed.  He stopped himself from running his hands through his hair.  Kuon was bleeding through too much.  “Can you get me his number?  Not Shoko-san’s, not Asami-san’s, his.”

“I think so.”

Ren stood up.  “I’m going to splash some water on my face.  I need to be more sober if I’m going to talk to him.”

*~*~*

Ren leaned back.  The headache was finally abetting, but his current location didn’t help.  The music was crap and the club was filled with people. It was a sea of Fuwa Sho fangirls.

“I can’t believe you actually came.”

“I said if you named the place, I would be there.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it, though.”  Fuwa rolled his eyes and plopped down in the seat across from him.  “Well?  You said it involved Kyoko?  Want to tell me to keep away now that I’m back in Tokyo?”

Ren leaned forward.  “That’s not why I’m here.  I want you to tell me where Kyoko is.”

Fuwa shrugged.  “Home?”

Ren smiled, but didn’t bother hiding his anger.  Fuwa blanched.  “Because I would be  _ here _ if Kyoko was at home.  She’s gone.  Someone took her.  And I think you know who.”

If it had been any other time, Ren probably would have enjoyed the way Fuwa lost all his color and the shock and fear that entered his eyes.  “I don’t know!  Why would I know?!”

“Did you know that she’s been stalked?  Before you even got back from your tour, someone vandalised a shoot she was on, breaking the window and scrawling ‘whore’ across a picture of her.”

“Her ankle?”

Ren nodded.  “And then she was pushed down the stairs at TBM.”  He leaned forward again.  “Now, I’ve spent most of the day trying to figure out who would hurt Kyoko and we’ve come up blank.  But then I thought of you.”

“I’d never hurt Kyoko!”

“Probably.  But when we thought about it, both her sprained ankle and being pushed down the stairs happened only days after you’d had a run-in with her.  So, who do you know who wants to hurt Kyoko?”

Fuwa shook his head.

“Someone who is so jealous of the attention you pay her that they get furious?”  He saw it.  His words had triggered something.  “Who?”

Fuwa was looking all around.  “No.  It’s impossible.  She wouldn’t.  She’s just a silly girl.”

Ren’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket.  It was Shigenoi.  He’d press Fuwa for more details after he found out if the man had more information.  He pressed ‘Accept’ and said hello.  

“I still can’t get him to tell me a name, but I did find out he was paid to put that camera in your apartment by the woman who lives above you.”

“The apartment above mine?  The one with the plumbing problem?”

“Pochie?”

“Thank you, Shigenoi-san.”  Ren hung up the phone.  “What did you say?”

“I know who lives above you.  Pochie was telling me the other day.  She wanted to piss me off by telling me things…About you and Kyoko.  Impossible things.”  He shook his head.  “Why do you care who lives above you?”

“Because that person paid a maintenance worker to put a camera in my apartment that ultimately captured the picture I was talking about a few minutes ago.”

“Why would Pochie do that?”

“Why are you talking about a dog?”

Fuwa rolled his eyes again.  “She’s not a dog, she’s my pet.  You must have seen her.  She played the other angel in the Prisoner PV against Kyoko.  She was the angel I was supposed to be in love with.  She’s a popular gravure idol, and my sometimes lover.”

Ren stood up.  “I have to go.”

“Where?”

“To get Kyoko back.”

“I thought you didn’t know where she is.”

Ren grabbed his arm and pulled him close.  “You are the most self-absorbed, usually useless piece of human refuse I have ever met.  But just this once, you’ve proven useful.  We knew that a woman took Kyoko.  A woman that hates Kyoko.  A woman who lives above me started this.  And you’ve just filled in the missing pieces.”

He saw the second everything clicked in Fuwa’s head.  “I’m coming with you.  She’ll never let you into her apartment.”

*~*~*

“Don’t screw this up.”

“Like I would!”  Fuwa pressed the buzzer and the intercom lit up.  “Pochie, let me in, it’s Sho.”

“I can’t.  Not yet.”

“Come on, pet.  You never called.  I miss you.”

The intercom crackled, but there wasn’t an answer.

“Mimori-chan, don’t make me beg.  You know I’d rather find someone else than do that.”

The door cracked open.  “Don’t joke like that.  I don’t like it.”

Fuwa pushed his way in and Ren followed.

“Sho-chan!  No!  Why would you bring him?”

“She’s here isn’t she, Mimori?”  Fuwa had taken Mimori by the shoulders and shook her.  “What were you trying to do?”

Mimori started sobbing.

Ren ignored their drama and went through the one closed door in the apartment.  “Kyoko!”

Kyoko was sitting in the corner with her arms tied behind her.  “Get her phone.  Go get her phone.”  She motioned with her head to the nightstand.  He only hesitated a moment before he grabbed it and slipped it in his pocket. Then he was by her side and saw the handcuffs.  “Are you hurt?”  He looked around.  “Do you know where the keys are?”

She shook her head.  

Ren dug into his pockets.  If he had something thin enough, he could try and pick the lock.  These didn’t look like actual real police cuffs, more the sort used for BDSM.  He tried to brute force it, but couldn’t.

He scrambled to the door.  “The key, where is the key?”

“You handcuffed her?!”  Fuwa pulled a keyring out of his pocket and started to fumble with it.  “Why would you do that when you don’t even have the key, Mimori!”

Ren didn’t wait for him to figure things out. He grabbed the keys out of his hand and went back to Kyoko.  He undid the cuffs as quickly as he could, tossing them to the side.

Kyoko gasped.  “My arms hurt.”  He rubbed them.  They must have fallen asleep, given the position she was in.  Or maybe they’d been wrenched oddly.

“Are you OK otherwise?”

She nodded.  “I think so.  I’m a little dazed.  She gave me some sleeping pills.  I thought she was giving me water… and then again.  I was so thirsty.  I shouldn’t have drank it the first time, but I did.”  She closed her eyes.  “We need to find the camera.  I know it’s in here.  She had it earlier.  Was telling me about the pictures on it.  We need that camera.”

He stood up and looked through the drawers.  He found the little black spy camera buried under her lingerie and shoved it in the pocket with Mimori’s phone.  At least Fuwa was keeping the woman distracted.  He’d never thought he’d be thankful to have that man anywhere near him, but since he wanted to just squeeze that girl’s neck, it was for the best.

He moved back to Kyoko and bent down to pick her up, but she stopped him.  “Just help me stand up.”

“Kyoko.”

“ _ No _ .  Just help me stand.  I need to walk out of this room.  I need to be fine.”

He sighed and did so.  He kept a hand on her as she walked out into the living room, though.  She glared at Fuwa.  “This is your fault, you asshole.”

“ **_ME_ ** ?!  I didn’t kidnap you!”

“You lucked out in that the only thing I wanted to hurt and destroy was your standing in the industry.  I wonder if it would have been the same had you slept with me, though.  If I had given that part of myself to you, I might have wanted to hurt anyone I thought you loved too, knowing that I wasn’t the one you wanted or desired.”  She glared at him.  “But the only person you are actually capable of loving is yourself.  You think of people as playthings, Sho.  That girl is not a plaything.  She honestly loves you.  I have no idea why, but then love, they say, is blind.  And apparently it’s crazy too.”

She walked over to the girl.  “You need to get away from him.  He’s poison.  But I know you won’t, so I think I’ll have to force you to.  I’m taking your phone and the camera I found in your room.”

Mimori looked at her with terrified eyes.  “You can’t.”

“I already have.”  She walked over to the couch and sat down.  “Sho, call her manager.  And her parents if you know them.  She’s only nineteen, right?”

“Kyoko, we should get you looked at.”  Ren put his hand on her arm.

“We will.  It’s either the police or this.  Either way, I can’t go anywhere until they arrive.  So which shall it be, Mimori-chan?”

She started to cry.

*~*~*

Kyoko leaned into Ren.  “I’m tired of hospitals. No more hospitals.”

He looked down at her.  “Have you been making a habit of needing to go to hospitals when I haven’t been around?”

She looked down.  “Maybe?  Not really.  It was only twice.”

He was too happy to have her back safe to be mad.  “Oh?”

“And really it was only once while you were gone.  Yashiro made me get checked out after I was pushed down the stairs.  He was very stubborn about it, even though I was fine.”

“I really need to think of a gift for Yashiro.  Something expensive.”  He pressed a kiss to Kyoko’s temple. 

The look on Hikaru’s face when he broke her fall came to mind.  “I may need to apologize, or at least tell you I understand what you were saying about my co-stars.”

“We can talk about it later.”

The door opened and Ren took a slight step away.

“There are some after/effects of too many sleeping pills in too short a time frame.  You need to eat a solid meal and just sleep off the effects.  I’d prefer it if you had someone stay with you tonight.  It wasn’t enough to cause any damage, but…”  The doctor narrowed his eyes.  “Next time don’t take a friend’s medication just because you can’t sleep.”

Kyoko nodded and the doctor walked out the room.  They’d managed to sweep the whole situation under the rug.  Between the information that Ren’s private investigator had found and the evidence on Mimori’s phone and that camera, not to mention the former maintenance worker who’d cracked once he realised that he was an accomplice to a kidnapping, they’d convinced her parents that the best thing for Mimori was to be committed and kept away from Shotaro.  Kyoko had wanted to help her, not condemn her.  She had a lot of sympathy for the girl, and saw herself in Mimori.  It made her sad.  She could even see the circumstances that could have led her down a similar scary path.

Then there was Shotaro… She didn’t know what was going to happen to him.  He seemed shaken to the core in a way she’d never seen him before in their entire life together.  Maybe he’d change, but Kyoko doubted it.  Shotaro was the center of his own world.  She needed to find a way to cut him out permanently if this sort of thing was going to keep happening because of his obsession with her.  Which had never made any sense to her.

Ren’s hand was rubbing her arm.  “Should we go home?  Your apartment or mine?”

Kyoko took a deep breath.  “Yours.  Take me home.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

Ren smiled against her hair.  “All right, let’s go home.”

They kept space between them as they walked out of the hospital.  “What do you want to eat?  They said you needed a decent meal.”

“I don’t care.  Just don’t try to cook me something.”

“The doctor said decent.  Do you want to get something from Darumaya on the way back?”

*~*~*

Ren tightened his arm around Kyoko’s waist and she sighed in her sleep.

He was never letting her go.  Now he just had to convince her to not let him go.

*~*~*

He pressed a kiss to her shoulder.  “I don’t want to, but I need to go to work today.  One day of suddenly pulling out of my projects is all I can do.”

Kyoko rolled over.  “I know. It’s fine.”  She lifted a hand and placed it against his cheek.

He turned his head to press a kiss to her palm.  “Do you want me to take you back to your apartment?”

She shook her head.  “No.  But if you’re going to the LME offices, you can drop me there.”

“Kyoko--”

“I’ll only do the things that can’t be moved.  I have an audition tomorrow, and a meeting with the director today.  And an interview that I’ve already had to reschedule twice and it’s for the drama special, so I can’t reschedule again.”

He gave her a disapproving look.

“You have to work even if someone dies.  That’s what you told me.  No one’s even dead, so we have to work.”

He sighed.  “You aren’t supposed to throw my words back in my face.”

 


	11. Salve For the Soul

Ren leaned against the wall and watched the monitors from backstage.  He smiled.

“You’d never be able to tell what happened yesterday if you didn’t know.”

“She’s one of, if not the best, actress in Japan, and you know it.”

Yashiro nodded.  “Not that she gets the name recognition for it.”

Ren sighed.  “I don’t know if she ever will.  She’s  _ too _ good.  But she’ll get the recognition from directors and people in the industry.  Her reputation is good.”

“So is there a reason that we’re spying on Kyoko-chan’s talk show appearance?”

“Absolutely not.  We just happened to be at the studio and I have fifteen minutes before my meeting.”

Yashiro looked at him.  “Are you upset about dinner?”

“A little.  I’m more upset at what happened that caused its cancellation, but Kyoko didn’t want to press charges.  And she doesn’t want to talk about it.  As usual for her, she just wants to keep moving forward.”

Kyoko held her hands in front of her.  “Oh, I’m surprisingly stubborn.  I want to make sure that we always have the best takes possible for any project I’m doing.”

“So what’s the craziest thing you’ve done for a good take recently?”

Kyoko tilted her head to the side.  “There’s a scene in the upcoming three-part drama special--”

“ _ Take Flight _ ?”

She nodded.

“We have the promo picture, hold on.  Can we put that image up?”

An image appeared on the monitor of Kyoko floating in a pond.  It was serene and peaceful and incredibly chilling.

“That’s actually the scene I was talking about.  I was in the water for much longer than originally planned, and it was so cold since it was early spring.  My co-star, Araki-san, said I had turned blue by the end of the scene.”

Ren raised an eyebrow at Yashiro in a silent question.  The other man just looked down and shook his head.

“It sounds like an intense scene.  I look forward to seeing it!”

Kyoko bowed.  They talked for a minute more before Kyoko left the stage.

“You turned blue?”

She put her hand to her heart when she saw him.  “Don’t scare me.  I’ve had enough scares to last for a while.”

He frowned.  “Don’t they usually put the actors in wetsuits for submerged scenes like that, especially in spring?”

She nodded.  “Usually, but I couldn’t move well in both the wetsuit and kimono, so I asked Director Shingai to let me do it without it.”

“Hmm.”  So that’s why Yashiro had been so very disapproving that morning after she did her location shoot.  Maybe she didn’t have more good sense than he did, after all.

“What?”

He paused.  Would she still give him this?  “You owe me dinner.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “We should wait a bit before remaking that reservation.”

“All right.”  He took two strides over to her and leaned down.  “Is it the place, or have you changed your mind?”

Kyoko looked up at him.  He saw the determination in her eyes, to move past what had happened and to move forward.  

He leaned close enough to whisper in her ear.  “If you wear something cute tonight, I will take care of the dinner plans.  Nothing fancy, something beyond low-key.  Are you up for that?”

He was sure that she was going to say no.  That they would go right back to the way things were before he left and before their fight.  But she surprised him.  She nodded.

“Nine o’clock.”

*~*~*

Chiho came in early the next morning.  Yashiro was already in his office.  The phone on his desk was ringing, but he was ignoring it, instead looking at something on his computer screen.  When he looked up and saw her heading to her cubicle, he jumped up and rushed out to greet her.

“Good morning, Umehara-chan.  Don’t answer your phone.  Let it all go to voicemail.  All of it.”

She looked at him, then at the phone in her cubicle.  The message light was on and she currently had three incoming calls ringing through.

“What is going on?  I can’t just let everything go to voicemail.  What if it’s something important?”

Yashiro looked around and motioned her to follow him into his office.  He shut the door once she was inside.

“We can’t do anything until we know how Ren and Kyoko-chan want to handle things, and they aren’t here yet, and not answering their phones.  I tried both of them already.”

Shock and dread settled into the pit of her stomach.  “Did they find out about what happened to Kyoko-san?”  She’d spent the last two days making sure that all the rescheduling she did wouldn’t arouse any sort of suspicion.

Yashiro smiled.  “No, they didn’t.  It’s…”  he paused and let out a breath.  “You know, I’ll just show you.”

He turned the screen of his computer to face her.  There was a picture of Kyoko and Ren.  It was dark and the photo was grainy, but it looked like Ren had his arms around her and she was leaning back against him.  It was surprising, but wasn’t anything to cause the torrent of phone calls.  Lights kept flashing on Yashiro’s phone; he must had turned off the sound.

“What am I looking at?”

“Ren took Kyoko-chan to Tokyo Tower last night.  Let’s just say people didn’t hesitate to snap some photos with their cell phones.  The images are flooding the celebrity sighting pages.  Oh, and there’s video as well, and  _ that _ is what this is really about.”  He clicked on a link and the screen filled with an image of Kyoko eating some sort of pastry with a smile on her face before turning and offering Ren a piece with her fingers, which he took directly with his mouth.  They didn’t look anywhere but at each other.  Then it got worse: he grabbed her hand and sucked on the pad of her thumb; removing crumbs, no doubt, but to do so was incredibly intimate.

Chiho shook her head.  “Is this what ‘In case things get complicated’ means?”

Yashiro nodded.  “Oh, there’s another video too.”  He loaded it up and she watched.  It started in the middle of a kiss.  They were kissing on the observation deck of Tokyo Tower.  This was not like the kiss at the hotel during the shoot.  This was much more… intense.  Not sexual, but the way that Ren had his fingers on her cheek and his other arm enveloping her and holding her to him tightly lent a feeling of desperation and need and possession.  And Kyoko was clinging to him, her fingers tightly fisted in the arms of his jacket as she pressed close.  It went on and on.  There were little breaks and a brief moment when he pressed his forehead to hers and looked at her before he kissed her again.  She idly wondered how long it had been going on before whoever filmed the video had started recording.

Chiho sat down.  This was...  She had suspected after that kiss on the shoot, but this…  “Why Tokyo Tower?”

“Because Ren is possessive, doesn’t do things by half measures, and has waited just about two years to take their relationship public.  He wasn’t going to let Kyoko-chan change her mind, and she might have after what happened.  Now there isn’t a chance of taking any of this back.  There’s no walking back that last video.  Maybe the feeding each other, but...”

She looked up.  “Wait.  You said  _ two years _ ?”

Yashiro nodded.  “That’s how long they’ve been together, well, a little longer, since right before she turned eighteen, I think anyway, Ren didn’t tell me right away, but he was ready to take the relationship public a few months in.  It was Kyoko who was more hesitant.”

“So the dinner date?”

“It was practically their first date out.  They’d only gone out once before, from my understanding.  Kyoko’s idea was more subtle, but...”

Chiho covered her face with her hand.  “This is… This is why she gave me an out.  She knew that this was going to happen and didn’t want me to have to deal with it unless I wanted to.”

“You can still back out.  I heard she put off signing your contract until this morning.  I can handle this.”

Chiho shook her head.  “You could have warned me.”

Yashiro nodded.  “You’re right, I could have, but she’s not my actress.”  He took a deep breath.  “She in my friend though.  I think that Kyoko-chan wanted an out herself.  If you knew what she was planning she couldn’t change her mind and that was it.  Making her relationship with Ren public terrifies her.”

“Why?  She’s landed the most desirable man in Japan.”

“A fact that she’s well aware of.  And how intensely he’s desired by his fans.  He hasn’t once been seriously attached to anyone.  He’s talked about relationships that he’s supposedly had, but there were never any names because there were never any women, at least not after he met Kyoko-chan.  And even before then it was a dinner date here or there.  He’s avoided all serious relationships for various reasons until Kyoko-chan.  But that relationship avoidance actually made him seem more attainable.  Kyoko-chan’s well aware of how possessive fans can feel.  It’s not Ren they’ll hate for those pictures on Tokyo Tower, it’s her.”

“The backlash.”

He nodded.  “I know she was really worried about it.  I told her she was wrong, but…”

“No, she’s right, there will definitely be backlash.  I should look into what’s being said now.”  She bowed.  “Thank you for the warning about the phones.  I guess we will be working together closely from now on.”

He nodded.

*~*~*

Ren walked through the management offices and most of the people stopped talking.  He gave them his usual smile and kept walking toward the back where Yashiro’s office was.  He stopped at a cubicle not far from the door.  “Good morning, Umehara-chan.”

She looked up from the phone she held to her ear.  He knew that she was talking to Kyoko since Kyoko couldn’t come to the offices due to a morning commitment.  He’d actually just dropped her off at the studio where she had an audition.

Umehara sighed. “Good morning, Ren-san.”  She turned away.  She was not happy with him.

He opened Yashiro’s office door without knocking and sat in the chair across from his desk.  He was also on the phone but cut the call short when he saw Ren.  “He’s here now.  I’ll discuss it with him and then get back to you.  Goodbye.”  He turned to Ren.  “I take it that this morning is an exceptionally good one for you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Of course you don’t.  You only won an argument you’ve been having for two years.  So how are we handling this?”

Ren turned and motioned at Umehara.  “Kyoko’s at an audition, so…”

Yashiro went over to the door and called for Umehara and waited for her to walk past him into the office before shutting the door.  She leaned against the wall.

“The backlash isn’t the greatest, but it isn’t quite as bad as Kyoko thought it’d be.” Ren said.

Umehara nodded.  “I came to a similar conclusion.  There’s no telling if some fans are just shocked, however.”

“Originally we’d planned on coming out and saying that we’ve been together for some time, but we’ve decided to play this as if the relationship is new instead.  Make it seem more insanely romantic.”  Their original coming together hadn’t been.  It’d been all nerves and worries and secrets.  The romance came later, when they were comfortable with each other, when her trust issues had smoothed over a little and he had told her who he really was.

Yashiro leaned against his desk.  “Hm.  You went away for a month and when you came back you both realised that your friendship was just more?”

“It could work.”  Umehara sighed.  “And it might soothe your fans anger if you spin it like the plot of a shoujo manga.”

“That’s what we thought as well, that perhaps the romance of it all could help.”  Ren paused.  “I don’t want Kyoko to get hurt.”

“I’ll do what I can to minimize that, but…” Umehara trailed off.

“I know.”  He sighed.  “Given the recent incident, I’d just like for her to be safe.”

Yashiro spoke up.  “But if you’re doing it this way, what about the… other thing?”

The ring.  He’d forgotten that Yashiro had figured that one out.  “It’ll keep.  For a while, anyway.  Besides, I realise that it’s not the right time yet; we only just made up.”

Yashiro nodded.  “All right then.  I think Umehara-chan and I have some messages to listen to.  Will you be all right going to your shoot and then interview on your own while I deal with this here?”

Ren nodded.  “I think I can handle that.”

“Don’t forget to eat lunch.”

Ren patted his bag.  “Kyoko sent lunch with me.”  He wouldn’t let her bento go to waste and his manager knew it.

*~*~*

When Ren entered the set, Momose was reading through her script.  She looked up and motioned for him to come over.  Ren sighed, but went anyway.  She was a sweet girl.  Idly he pondered why he thought of her as a girl when she was older than Kyoko by almost a year.  And he definitely didn’t think of Kyoko as a girl.  Not anymore and not for some time.

She cut straight to the chase.  “How long?”

“What?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she leveled a stern look at him.  He almost wanted to laugh.  “I have a long standing bet with Ogata-san.  How long?”

“Director Ogata?”  Did everyone that knew them wonder about their relationship?  He hadn’t realised.  

She nodded.  “Well?”

He took a deep breath.  “One day.”

“No, you lie.  You have to be lying.”

He was, but… “No.  One day.”

She clicked her tongue at him.  “I’m not talking about since you’ve gone public.”

He smiled.  She was getting rather frustrated with him.  “One day.”

She huffed.  “I’m just going to have to call Kyoko-chan.  She’ll tell me.  I’m hoping that it’s been more than two years but less than three.  Ogata-san has his money on three.”

Ren could feel his eyebrows jump.  “Three years?”  He might have just found the source of The Rumor.

“He actually thinks that the two of you were just starting to date on the set of  _ Dark Moon _ .  He says he has insider knowledge.  And part of me thinks he’s right.  I still remember watching Kyoko talk to you while we were on that location shoot.”

“Momose-san.  One day.”

She sighed.  “I really am going to call Kyoko-chan.”

And she’d probably tell Momose the truth.  The story was for the media, not the people they considered friends, and Kyoko did like Momose.  However, they were on set.  “Right now, right here, I’m saying one day.  That’s what Yashiro is telling the press.”  And what he’d like most people to believe, so he’d stick to saying only one day.

“Is that why he’s not with you today?”

Ren nodded.  “It is.  He should be joining up with me after an interview I have this afternoon.  He’ll be here during this evening’s filming.”

The other third of the leading cast came up to them.  Masuno-san was a pretty woman and currently popular in the polls.  She was still rather green though.  Ren knew that she’d been cast for the first two reasons and not her acting ability which was, unfortunately, only mediocre and she didn’t seem to have the drive to improve as Momose had done.  He had a feeling that the director was hoping he’d be able to carry her through their scenes.

“Tsuruga-kun!  I’m so glad that you’re here.  I had a question about the script and the first of our scenes we’ll be filming today.”  She looked up at him through her lashes.  It was artificial and meant to be coy.  Definitely a mediocre actress.

“Of course, what do you need help with?”  As long as she took her job seriously, though, he would offer what help he could.

She took his hand and led him a bit away from Momose-san.  He raised his eyebrows but allowed himself to be led away.  He had the sudden feeling that it was going to be a long day.

*~*~*

“Someone either doesn’t follow the entertainment news or just doesn’t care.”

Momose looked up.  One of the younger actors on the set had come up and was shaking his head.  His dark hair fell over one eye and he brushed it away.

“Hiou-kun, right?”

He nodded.  “And you’re Itsumi.”

“You really don’t use honorifics with anyone?”  She’d heard that, but hadn’t actually believed it.

He delicately shrugged.  “Don’t see a reason to.  I never have, it seems stupid to start now.  It’s not a problem, is it?”  He turned his brown eyes to look at her.  His face said that her answer didn’t matter and he’d do what he wanted regardless.

“Not at all, I guess.”

“I guess he’ll do.”

“Tsuruga-kun?”

Hiou nodded.  “For Kyoko.  Don’t know why she wants to deal with the hassle of dealing with him though.  Seems more trouble than he’d be worth.”

“I didn’t know that you’ve worked with Kyoko-chan.”

“I haven’t.  I have known her for years though.  She’s just done me a few favors and I currently owe her one.”

An AD ran up to them.  “Uesugi-kun, the director didn’t realise.  You have to go and work on a drama special tonight?”

He nodded.  “I do.  I have evening shooting there.  Is that going to be a problem?”

The AD shook his head.  “We were planning to do a couple of your scenes this evening, but we’ll move them to the morning shoot instead.”

“That’s fine with me.”

“If you could tell Tsuruga-san for me, I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course.”  He stuck his hands in the pocket of his jeans and waited while the AD walked away before turning toward the man he was supposed to be informing of the change.  “Ren!”

No one had just expected him to yell over at the actor.  When Ren did turn to face him, he called out again.  “Schedule adjustment.  Our scenes are being done this morning.  So it looks like helping her can wait.”  Hiou-kun turned around and headed to costuming.

Momose couldn’t help the laugh that escaped.  It seemed this shoot wouldn’t be boring at all with Hiou-kun playing Tsuruga-kun’s little brother.

*~*~*

“Cut!”

Ren dropped his hands from Masuno-san’s shoulders and stepped back.  He motioned to the director that he needed a moment.

“All right, why doesn’t everyone take a few minutes break?”

Four NGs.  Masuno just couldn’t get her lines or blocking straight in this scene.  It always started out fine, but then went to hell about two thirds of the way through, and it was a long scene.  Even his concentration was beginning to fray.  He walked over to his chair, picked up the script he’d put down on top of it, then looked down at his phone, pressing the button to check the time.

They were definitely running over.  He sighed.

“Not going to be able to see Kyoko-chan tonight?”  Yashiro had come over with a bottle of water.

Ren shook his head.  “We weren’t planning to see each other.  Kotonami-san insisted that she get a night with Kyoko after what happened.  I’m not allowed to monopolize her, I’ve been told.  Actually, I’ve been told that repeatedly over the years.”  He smiled.  The thought of Kyoko spending time with friends actually cheered him up.  Even when he was stuck doing this scene over and over again.  He flipped through the script, and didn’t snap it shut when Yashiro looked over his shoulder for the first time ever when it wasn’t “clean”.  His notes on pronunciation and additional furigana were scribbled all over.

Since he’d always had to work on proper Japanese pronunciation and enunciation more than most, he could usually find the spot where a co-actor was stumbling if he looked over their lines for a moment.  He read them over and then closed his eyes, mentally going over how the words would be shaped.

He handed the script back to Yashiro, who started to flip through it intently, and walked over to Masuno-san.  “Excuse me, Masuno-san, can I have a moment?”

“Oh, I am so very sorry, Tsuruga-san, I keep tripping over my words.  You know I’ve been nervous about this scene since this morning.”

He nodded.  “It’s quite all right, but I am sure that you are getting tired, it’s been a long day.”

“It really has.  I wanted to do this scene in the morning, but the director moved all of Hiou-kun’s scenes to the morning.”  She tried to pout in what he supposed was supposed to be a cute fashion, but instead he just found it annoying.

“He had another job to go to.  Allowances have to be made to accommodate the other actors, after all.”  It was only a small admonishment, but she still flushed.

“But he’s our junior actor!”

“Senior.”  He corrected her.  He might actually have a year, maybe two, on the younger actor since he’d tried acting when he was younger, but as far as Tsuruga Ren was concerned, he didn’t debut until nine years ago, five years after Uesugi Hiou had started acting.

She stopped.  “What?”

He smiled.  “Uesugi-kun has been working in the industry continuously since he was two years old.  He’s a veteran actor even at his age, and has recently made the transition from child actor to teen and adult, which isn’t easy to do. So of course the production would make accommodations for him.”

She pressed her lips together.  Obviously, Masuno did not like the idea of a younger actor being senior to her, but age wasn’t a factor in this business, talent and time in the industry was. Masuno really needed to learn that.  Even Kyoko would be Masuno’s senior by a year or so, though she was a year younger.

He continued.  “I was thinking that perhaps we could sit and go through the lines slowly, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not!”  She rested her hand on his arm.  He glanced down at it and gently removed it, giving her hand a soft squeeze before dropping it.  He walked over to a deserted corner of the set and sat down; she followed.

It took a few tries, but he thought he’d worked out the kinks in her lines by the time the director called them back to the set.  Now to just power through for a little longer.

*~*~*

“Have you always done this?”

Yashiro was driving Ren back to his car; he was just glad that he could  _ finally _ head home.  He was tired.  He hated long shoots.  “Done what?”  He was looking forward to a good, long night’s sleep.  He would have preferred to have Kyoko in his bed, but then sleep might have become secondary in exchange for making sure that she was very much there.

“Annotate your scripts like that.  It’s fascinating.”

He nodded.  “I’ve always had a “dirty” script and a “clean” script.  The only reason I even brought the annotated one was because I haven’t had enough time with it yet.  Usually, I would never bring it to set; they stay in my apartment. But Kyoko only finished highlighting the idioms last night and I was still going over them.”

“So that’s why those were highlighted and the writing was different.”

He nodded.  “Don’t forget that Japanese isn’t my first language.  In fact, I really didn’t want to learn it at all when I was younger, but not doing so depressed my father so much that I gave in.  As for Kanji…”  He sighed at the memory of telling his father that learning the kanji of a small country like Japan was pointless.  “I got a late start.  I used to, and still do have multiple dictionaries on my phone, but idioms were always and still are the worst.  Especially when the internet doesn’t help.  Idiomatic expressions are hard when the language is your second or third, they just don’t translate right.  Also pop culture references from before I moved to Japan that had nothing to do with my father are difficult for me, since I’m not familiar with them.”

“And Kyoko helps?”

Ren nodded.  “Of course.  She’s been helping me with this sort of thing since before I knew she was helping me.”

Yashiro raised an eyebrow and Ren saw it in the rearview mirror.

“Back when she played the part of Bo on Kimagure Rock.  That was how we met, actually, Bo and I.”  He paused.  “I started asking her about some of the ones I couldn’t find online after she knew my history.  Eventually, she just would go through my scripts and find them for me.  I think she actually enjoys it.”

“I knew you put work into your scripts, obviously, but I never knew how much.  And you started young as well.”

Yashiro pulled up next to his car and Ren slid over, putting his hand on the latch.  “I was determined to make my own way here in Japan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter chapter this week. Sorry for the wonky posting schedule. I'm debating dropping down to only Tuesday postings until after Christmas and then posting a Holiday fic during my Friday postings instead. Also my editor (read: husband) is a bit behind on editing the next batch of chapters and that will give him some time to catch up. (He didn't want me to throw him under the bus, but I am totally throwing him under the bus. :P)


	12. Friends, Lover, Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains fluffy lemonyness. :)

“Did you get it?” Kanae asked as soon as she opened the door.

Kyoko nodded as she walked into Kanae’s apartment.  “I passed the audition.”  She took a deep breath.

“It’s going to be challenging.”

“That’s why I wanted the part.  It will be a challenge.  Besides, it’s not like I know nothing about music.  I grew up with… well,  _ him _ , after all.”

Kanae sighed. Kyoko hadn’t spoken Fuwa’s name since the incident.  It had only been a couple days, but she was doing an impressive job of appearing as if nothing was bothering her.  On top of it, Tsuruga-kun had pressed forward with them going public.  Kyoko must be short circuiting just a little bit.  She shook her head.  What that idiotic man was thinking was beyond her.  Kanae was sure that Kyoko was not all right.

“I’m fine, Moko-san.  Really.  I’ve slept really well the last couple of nights.”

“And tonight, when you’ll be sleeping alone?  Are you going to jump at shadows again because you don’t want to be a pest?”

Kyoko smiled.  “Are you inviting me over for a sleepover, Moko-san?”

She sighed.  They were twenty years old and still having sleepovers.  “If you want.”

Kyoko bounced a little on the couch where had sat down.  “Do I get to braid your hair again?”

Kanae sighed, but nodded slowly.

“Then I accept!”  She paused.  “Let’s invite Chiyorin too!”

Kanae sighed again but nodded once more.

*~*~*

“Your drama special starts airing in two weeks.  The amount of press is going up.  Director Shingai’s latest is rumored to be one of the best things he’s worked on in years.  As the lead everyone is wanting to talk to you.  We’re going to hold off on individual interviews until after the first episode airs, though, and stick to groups until then.  That will also mean that they can’t hijack the interview and focus it on your relationship with Tsuruga-san.”

Kyoko nodded at Umehara-san.  She was sitting in a conference room with Umehara and Kanae as they went over schedules and requests for the week.  It had been a while since they’d done something like this.  At least since Aya-chan had gone on maternity leave.

“We also need to start fitting in the voice lessons the new production has asked for.  They want a more polished sound, as you’re aware.  I’ve found an instructor who will also work with you on the piano parts.”

Kyoko nodded.

“You can play the piano?”  Kanae looked at her with wide eyes.

“Not at all.”  She paused.  “Well, a little, I suppose, but it’s not like I can really play the piano like Sh… him, but I can read music and with practice, eventually play pieces that aren’t too difficult.”

Kanae closed her eyes and sighed.

Umehara-san looked back and forth between the two girls.  “Am I missing something?”

Kyoko waved a “no” at her.  “It’s nothing important, just a little personal history.”

Umehara-san nodded.  “All right then.  Kotonami-san.  I believe that you have a few more days of shooting for the drama special, and that the shooting for your primary drama has finished.  Have you decided which part you’ll be taking in the next season?”

“I have it narrowed down to two.  I’ll know by the end of the day, but I’m leaning toward the police drama this time.”

“That’s a good role!  You’ll be amazing, Moko-san!”

“You say that every time.”

Kyoko smiled.  “And I’m always right, aren’t I?”

*~*~*

“How’d you learn the piano anyway?”

They were waiting at the elevator and Kanae decided that it was a good time to try to wheedle information out of Kyoko.

“Oh, well when Sh… he was seven or so he really wanted lessons and pestered his parents until they gave in.  Since I was living with them, I was told that I should take part as well if I wanted.  It was time with… him, so of course I did.  I was proficient.  But he quit once he’d learned enough and preferred experimenting on his own to learning pieces, so the lessons stopped.”

It all made perfect sense.  Fuwa’s parents weren’t the type that would give their son lessons and not Kyoko, and of course Kyoko would think that her ability to read music and even play a little was nothing when compared to Fuwa’s ability to actually compose and play music that consistently landed on the top of the charts.  And it never would have occurred to Kyoko to ask for the lessons for her to continue if it was something that she enjoyed.  Though Kanae couldn’t tell from Kyoko’s current lack of inflection if she did enjoy it or not.

“And the guitar?”

Kyoko tiled her head to the side as they walked in.  “I never said anything about knowing the guitar.”

“But you do, don’t you?  That’s his other main instrument, so I assume there were lessons as well.”

Kyoko hummed.  “Yes, but I only remember how to play maybe six chords or so.  Just the basic ones.  It was much harder since my fingers were so short.  I tried to keep up but failed, so I would just listen most of the time.”

Learning music wouldn’t have pleased anyone, not even Fuwa, so it wasn’t a surprise to Kanae that Kyoko wouldn’t put her incredible determination into learning how to play, unlike learning things that would actually earn her praise, like katsuramuki had done.

*~*~*

“So these are the potential guests that we want to reach out to for this coming month, correct?”

The Kimagure Rock producer handed a list around.

“You should take Kyoko-chan off the list.”

The producer, director, and his two other bandmates and co-presenters all turned to look at Hikaru with disbelief.

“But you love it when Kyoko-chan is a guest!”

He nodded.  “I do.  But everyone will be expecting us to ask questions about her relationship and… well, the eggs.”

Everyone stopped.  Public opinion was definitely mixed about the news of Kyoko having started to date Tsuruga Ren.  Hikaru wasn’t all that surprised by it.  He’d known for years that Kyoko had liked someone.  Then the fact that Tsuruga-san was the only male friend of hers who dared to call her name without even a ‘chan’.  Why everyone else in Japan was surprised, he had no idea.

“We can be more selective about--”

Hikaru shook his head.  “If we don’t ask, it’ll seem like we’re avoiding it.  If we do, there might be backlash, and I like Kyoko-chan.  No, I won’t do it to her.  We’ll have her back on once this nonsense dies down in a couple of months.”

His two bandmates smiled a little sadly at him.

*~*~*

Ren pressed the buzzer for Kyoko’s apartment door and waited.  And waited.  He knew she had to be home.  He’d talked to her right before he’d left his shoot to come here.  He tried once more, and when there was still no answer, he dug into his pocket and took out his keyring to find the key.

He never really used it since Kyoko was always there when he came over, and he didn’t like just going in, so he always used the bell.

He was a little worried as he turned the key in the lock, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her voice as he walked in.

“Kyoko?”

She was singing.  He’d never heard her sing before.

He leaned back against the door and took off his shoes.  She was pretty good.  Not polished idol good, but for an actress, it was definitely good.

She got a note wrong and stopped.  It was quiet for a moment, and then she started again from a point before where she’d made the mistake.  It was a very Kyoko thing to do.  He wondered what had brought on the sudden burst of singing.  He hoped it was for a good reason.

He walked toward her voice, it was coming from the bedroom.  He stopped in the doorway.  She was sitting in the middle of her bed with a pair of headphones on.  Her back was to him and she probably still didn’t realise he was there.  She had sheet music spread out in front of her.  One foot was bouncing in time with the rhythm as she sang.  He smiled.  He couldn’t help it.  She made an incredibly attractive picture.

The song finished and she pulled the headphones down so they were around her neck.  She made some notes on the music in front of her and sighed.  She looked over at her phone.  She must have been checking the time because her eyes went wide.

“Did you forget already?”

*~*~*

Kyoko jumped and turned to look at Ren.  He was standing in the doorway to her bedroom.  She smiled.  “You used your key.  You never use your key.  I thought you’d lost it.”  She sat back on her heels.

He smiled in return.  “Lose the precious key to my Kyoko’s apartment? No.”  He stalked toward her.

“My notes!”  She quickly gathered them up and moved them out of the way before he put his knee up on the bed and leaned forward.  “I thought you were coming over for dinner.”  She knew what he’d say next.  This wasn’t the first time they’d had such an exchange.  She tilted her head up.

“Appetizer?”  He covered her mouth with his, and Kyoko wrapped her arms around his neck as he pressed her back onto the mattress.  His weight was solid and comforting.  His hand pressed against her hip, pinning her down.  Not that she wanted to go anywhere.

She parted her lips for him and he deepened the kiss, his tongue pressing in and demanding that she return the kiss.  She did.  She arched her back under him, pressing their chests together as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

His hand slid down her hip to her thigh, gently lifting it so he could settle more comfortably between her thighs.  The feel of his fingers on her skin felt like little pinpricks of electricity and she tilted her head back.  Nudging the headphones out of the way, he kissed his way down her neck and to her chest.  He dragged the neckline of her shirt down with his free hand and kissed just above her left breast, then sucked.  Her breath caught as he left his mark on her.

His tongue was hot and rough as he licked up back to her neck and left another mark.  She should stop him, but when she said his name to scold him, it just came out on a sigh, “Ren.”

She felt him smile against her skin, and then he lifted his head to look at her.  “Is something the matter, Kyoko?  You sounded like you needed something.”

She let her fingers run down his neck and over his shoulders to the top button of his shirt.  His eyes closed for a moment, then opened and stared down at her.  She leaned up to kiss his chin and the edge of his mouth before sucking his bottom lip between hers, dragging her teeth along it.  She worked on undoing the buttons of his shirt while she kissed him, spreading it open and running her palms across his chest when she finally managed to undo the last one.

He broke the kiss and whispered her name against her lips.  She smiled and wrapped her arms around him under his open shirt, her fingers pressed into his back as he moved his head down. He had pushed her shirt up and had his mouth on her breast, licking and teasing her nipple and sucking it into his mouth.  She groaned and her fingers really did dig into his back then.  He grunted and moved over to her other breast, wreaking havoc on all her senses.

The pool of desire low in her abdomen started to curl and tense as it built.  He pressed kisses down her stomach and licked down in a long line.  She lifted her hips as he pushed her loose skirt and underwear down, baring her.  He moved away for a second to look at her and she felt the color rise in her cheeks even as that pool of desire tightened and twisted even more.  She was wet and wanted him and the look in his eyes said he knew it.  She pushed herself up further on the bed and tossed the headphones in the direction of the rest of her notes.

He dragged his finger down her chest the same path his lips had taken before bending down and kissing the inside of her thigh.  He sucked and licked, and Kyoko knew she’d have yet another kiss mark there, but those she never had to worry about hiding.  His nose brushed against her a second before his tongue pressed past her lips and licked up, lightly flicking her clit.

She bit her lip as she groaned.  It felt better than she remembered.  She pushed her fingers into his hair and down to his shoulders.  She gasped as he pressed a finger inside of her and rubbed against her wall as he kept pressing firmly against her with his tongue.  The first finger was joined by a second and she arched up, pressing his mouth more firmly against her.  She could feel his lips move into a smile, and even that sent shocks of pleasure through her.

“Ren!”  She tugged on his shoulders, but he didn’t move, just kept thrusting his fingers into her as he licked and sucked and flicked his tongue against her clit.

She couldn’t keep still; her hips kept moving and she let her head fall back.  It was all too much.  She moaned and whimpered, and then she could feel everything tighten as she came with a cry.  He didn’t stop right away and kept his tongue pressed to her for long languid licks until the last of her orgasm faded.  She shivered with pleasure.  He knew how to keep her on edge.

When he did take his lips off of her, he only moved them back to the inside of her thigh so he could leave a kiss mark on her other thigh.  His hands were on her sides, and he moved back up, pressing kisses against her stomach and along her sides.  His hands and mouth were avoiding all the places she wanted them to be and she whimpered.  “Don’t tease,” she breathed out.

He was leaning over her then, looking down into her eyes.  “No?”

She shook her head.

He leaned in to kiss her, but he didn’t, instead kissing along her jaw and up to her ear.  He slowly ran his tongue along the shell of her ear.  “Are you sure I can’t tease you? Even a little?” he whispered.  His voice was deeper and rough, and sent a shiver down her spine.  Her tongue darted out to lick her suddenly-dry lips.

She took her hands and settled them on his waist, running her fingers along the waistband until she came to the button.  She undid it and the zip, and pushed her hand into his pants.  He was already hard, and she wrapped her fingers around him and watched his face.  His eyes dilated and he groaned, finally leaning in to take her lips with his and kissing her.  She stroked him as best she could without taking off his pants.  He broke the kiss and gasped next to her ear.

“All right, I get the point, Kyoko.”  His rejoinder came out as more of a groan than spoken words.

She smiled and pushed up until he rolled over onto his back.  With his help it didn’t take long to get his pants off.  She straddled his torso and splayed her hands across his chest.  She leaned down and left her own mark over his heart.

His hands were on her hips and were encouraging her to move down, lower, to take him inside of her.  It had taken time, but they’d learned exactly how to please each other.  She lifted her hips and slowly sank down onto him, watching as his eyes closed for a second and his breath caught.

Then she started to rock her hips, lifting up before sinking back down.  She moaned.  It always, always felt so very good to have him inside of her.  She closed her eyes and let her head fall back.  She knew that he was looking at her.  They were both breathing heavily, and she started to move faster. Suddenly, his thumb was pressed to her clit and rubbing circles around the nerve filled bud.  She gasped and came, tightening around him and he groaned long as he joined her.

She leaned in and pressed her forehead to his and looked in his eyes.  “I love you.”

He kissed her; this time it was slow and calm and lasted until her heart slowed down.  She tumbled to the side and rested her head on his chest.

“Can I stay?”

She smiled against his chest.  He always asked if he could stay over.  At first it had seemed odd to her, that he’d assume she would stay at his apartment but that she would send him home from hers, but that wasn’t why.  A gentleman always asks. 

*~*~*

Ren rested his chin on the top of Kyoko’s head and watched as she sliced the vegetables for their dinner while he had his arms wrapped around her waist.  She’d long ago stopped complaining that she couldn’t focus when he did that.  “So what brought on the bout of singing?  Did you get good news?”

“No, it was practice.  The voice coach I’ll be working with sent me the music and asked me to learn it to the best of my ability before we meet at the end of the week.”

“Voice coach?”  Ren shifted so he was standing next to her instead.  It was a better position to watch her face.

She ducked her head.  “The audition wasn’t an acting audition.  Well, it was, but it wasn’t.”  She sighed.  “It’s a role in a drama, but since it’s about a singer, it will involve singing.  They wanted to see if I could before they offered me the role.”

“And did they?”

Kyoko smiled at him.  “Yes, but they asked that I train with a voice coach to smooth out the rough edges.”

“I didn’t realise that you wanted to sing.”

Kyoko stopped chopping.  “I don’t think I do, not like Ruriko-chan. I don’t want to be an idol, but I wanted this role.  I wanted it since they handed me the script.  It’s a really bittersweet story.  Though I guess I still don’t technically have the role, even though the production team approves.”

Ren’s eyebrows rose.  “But you said--”

“The other leads are a male idol band.  If they don’t think my voice will mesh well with their work for the group numbers, they may have to find a different actress, or at least a different singer.  Though I told them I thought that it would be better if the same person sang and acted, so I wouldn’t want to do it if it wouldn’t work out that I sing.  It would only hurt the final project.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as Kyoko went back to making dinner.  Of course she’d care more about how well the final project would turn out than if she had the role she wanted or not.  She’d come a long way as an actress.

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.  “Well, you’re braver than I am.”

“Because you won’t ever try to sing?  Isn’t that just because you don’t really enjoy Japanese music?”

He sighed.  Guilty as charged.  He enjoyed listening to music, but it was strictly in English.  His music tastes had been strongly defined by his early teen years.  It was one of the reasons that he really only listened to music in his apartment and with his earbuds in.  “I was enjoying  _ your _ singing.”

She smiled over at him.  “That’s because you’re biased.”

“There’s that, I suppose.”  When there was a break in her cooking, he wrapped his hands around her waist and sat her up on the counter, stepping between her legs.  She looked at him with wide eyes.  “Will things burn?”  She shook her head and he leaned in to kiss her.

*~*~*

“Did you really want to come here an hour early?”  Umehara got out of the car after Kyoko.

“Yes.  Ren is filming here today, and… I need to ask for something.”

Umehara had raised one eyebrow at her.  “You aren’t the type to interrupt his work.”

She shook her head.  “I know, but this is time sensitive and I forgot last night.”

Her manager sighed, but followed her into Fuji’s building.  “And a phone call wouldn’t do?”

Kyoko paused in her step and looked at her.  “No.  It’s about a... sort of … restraining order.”

“Against the girl?”

“I don’t want to talk about this here out in the open.  Or on an open line, which is why I didn’t want to call.  These things are hard enough to acquire.”  Kyoko sighed and started back down the hall with Umehara following her.

Her chances of actually getting one through the court system were pretty slim, but she did have one of the best law firms in Tokyo working for her.  It was the least her mother could do for her, after all.  It was just incredibly complicated, given the situation in which she was raised.  And there was another option.

She turned a corner and stopped in front of Studio B.  The filming light was not on, so she quietly opened the door and stood to the side.  Umehara stood next to her.  She’d try to flag down an AD to see if they could find Ren for her.  She didn’t want to disrupt the work more than necessary.

But it wasn’t needed.  Hiou-kun was walking up to her within a minute of her coming through the door.

“Kyoko.  What are you doing here?  Or do I even need to ask.”  He looked over his shoulder to where Ren was talking with Momose.

She smiled.  “I didn’t realise that you were working on this drama.  Or Momose-san either, actually.”  Ren hadn’t spent a lot of time talking about his current work; they’d been spending most of the time talking about his trip to LA and his parents and, well, not talking.  They’d missed each other for the last three months.

“It’s interesting.  I wish the two lead actresses were in opposite roles.”  He motioned for her to follow him.  “Itsumi is being wasted in her current role, even if it has the higher billing.”  He stopped walking and turned to look at her.  “I never thanked you for your help with that scene.  I should.”  He paused, and a slight blush colored his cheeks.  She smiled.  If he didn’t land in the polls after this drama aired or the drama special, she’d wonder what the Japanese population was thinking.  “It did actually help.  And for letting me watch you work with Araki…  It inspired me to change some of my blocking, but the director approved and I think it came out well.”

“You’re very welcome, Hiou-kun, though Director Shingai thought I was, perhaps, too technical and theoretical in my teaching.”

He shook his head.  “No.  I appreciated it.  You taught me what I need to know.  I didn’t need help with the acting bit… or rather, I don’t think I would have actually listened if you’d given acting advice.  Between your… demonstration… and watching your scene, I understood what was expected.”

She bowed.  “I’d say it was my pleasure…”

He laughed.  “You said you’d had worse.”

Her smile was wide.  “Well, I have.  But, if you need help again…”  She paused.  “If you need help again, go to Kanae, but if you can’t then I will do what I can.”

His eyes darted over to the side, and Kyoko turned her head to see what or who he was looking at.  “I’d say yes, but I don’t think he’d approve.”

Ren was staring at them with a bemused and curious expression on his face.

“Ren, I think she’s here to see you.”  Hiou-kun stuck his hands in his pockets and wandered off again.

Ren walked over.  “That was a strange conversation.”

Kyoko lifted a shoulder.  “He was just thanking me.”  She quickly sobered.  “But that is not why I came.  I need to talk to you.  Do you have a few minutes sometime in the next forty or so?”

“It can’t wait until after?”  He was frowning.  It could be because he was worried that she’d just shown up out of nowhere, or because he was really busy.

She sighed.  “It can, but then it’d have to wait until next week, and I wanted to call… someone by the end of business today.  In about an hour, I’ll be going into interviews for two hours with Togo-san, Araki-kun and Director Shingai for  _ Take Flight _ and by that point it will be too late.”

He looked away for a moment.

“If you want time, Ren, all you have to do is get the scene we’re doing next knocked out in one take.”  Hiou gave him a cheeky smile from where he was sitting at the table on set.  Ren looked over at him.  “I know I can do it, can you?”

Kyoko covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.  She wasn’t the only one.  Momose-san did as well.  “Did Hiou-kun just challenge you?”

“He’s been cocky.”  He turned to look down at Kyoko.  “I’ll be back.  One run through of the scene will take five minutes.  One take.”  He raised his voice.  “If Hiou-kun isn’t full of bluster.”  He took off his jacket and tossed it over his arm, and headed onto the set himself.

Momose took the opportunity to come over.  “I’ve been meaning to call to get some specifics, but have been busy.  I understand you have a lot going on, too.”

Kyoko nodded. She was still looking toward the set where Ren and Hiou-kun were getting into position.

“Oh, they’ve been doing this since filming started.  It’s actually a little like they  _ are _ brothers.  Hiou-kun keeps needling him, and Tsuruga-kun can’t help but rise to the challenge.”

They watched the scene play out for a couple of minutes.

“Hiou-kun probably reminds Ren of himself at that age.  The parallel is actually a good one.”

“You think that Hiou-kun may be the next Tsuruga-san?”

Kyoko tilted her head to the side and thought.  She wasn’t sure that Hiou would eclipse Ren in five years if Ren was still focused on the Japanese entertainment industry, which was fairly unlikely.  There were just too many factors in play.  “Well no, they’re different enough, but I think that their career tracks will be similar to a point.”

“CUT!”

*~*~*

The two men were staring at the director as he watched the playback.

“It’s good.  Good work, you two.  One take.”

Ren gave Hiou-kun a look and then left the set. He tossed his jacket over his chair and strode over to Kyoko.  “Excuse us, Momose-san.”  He took her hand and pulled her away toward his dressing room while Umehara followed.

He shut the door before Umehara or Yashiro could walk in as well.  He didn’t really care what people thought they were doing.  If Kyoko had come to his set, it was important.  “What is it?”

“I called Toudou-san the other day to arrange an appointment with my mother to discuss what had happened.  He was bothered that I hadn’t reached out before the matter got to such a point.  He, and my mother apparently, want to look into securing a restraining order against Sh… Shotaro.  It’d be complicated and quiet, but being that we’re both legally represented by the same firm…”  She took a deep breath.  “So instead of a restraining order, they think a legal contract that he maintain distance from me for my own safety would be easier to acquire, and that his uncle can convince him to agree.”

Ren frowned.  “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to meet with your mother?”

“Because she’s my mother and my problem, and well, she doesn’t particularly like you very much.”  Kyoko hurried on.  “She doesn’t like anyone in the industry, with the sole exception of the head partner at the firm.  And I just find it easier to avoid bringing up things that annoy her when I do have to talk to her.”

He didn’t stop frowning, but did nod in understanding.  She didn’t expect him to like her reasoning.

She took a deep breath.  “So Toudou-san asked if I could send him the contact information of the investigator you hired to look into the break-in.  But you’re the one with that information, and you’d need to give him permission to discuss his findings with them.  They just want as much information as possible to present to Katagiri-sensei.”

“Shigenoi Kazuhiko.  I’ll call him when I have a spare moment today.”  He reached out and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.  “So you can call Toudou-san and tell him that Shigenoi-san will cooperate.” 

“Thank you.”

He leaned down and kissed her.  “I just want you to be safe and I think making sure that Fuwa stops showing up to your workplaces unannounced will help.  A typical restraining order would never work, given that you both work in the industry, but a contract saying he’ll stop the nonsense of the last four years might.”

She reached up and rubbed her thumb over his lip.  “My lipstick.”

“I’m pretty sure people think we’re doing more than kissing.”

She shook her head.  “That’s not funny.  If that’s the case, I should leave now.”

Ren sighed but let her walk past him and open the door.  She turned and bowed, then bowed to the set at large, thanking them for their consideration before leaving the studio.

*~*~*

“How incredibly rude.  I can’t believe she thought it was all right to just barge onto our set and make demands.”  Masuno was sulking.

Momose-san sighed.  Masuno hadn’t even been on set when Kyoko-chan had come.  She had come back in time to see the young woman leaving Tsuruga-kun’s dressing room, however.

“It wasn’t like that.  There weren’t any demands.  She seemed worried about something.  Almost distracted.  I’m sure she just needed to talk to him for a minute.  They really were only in his dressing room for a few minutes.”  They’d spent far longer amounts of time alone together on the set of  _ Dark Moon _ .

One of the other actresses on the drama dropped her voice into a conspiratorial whisper.  “You don’t think she’s… do you?”

Momose sighed.  That’s a rumor that they both could do without.  “No.  I really don’t.”

“Well, it explains everything.  She’s so very… boring.  Plain like a bowl of noodles.  I mean, everyone knows they’ve been friends for years, but he’s never shown any interest in her before now.  Maybe there was a… slip up and now they’re stuck together to save face.  They’ve only been seen together the one time, and that was obviously a set up.”

Masuno leaned forward.  “I think you may be onto something there.  But then she should just deal with it.  Terminate and move on.”

The other actress nodded.

This wasn’t the first such conversation Momose had heard regarding actresses that found themselves in less than desirable circumstances.  Some left the business, some terminated, and some tried to do both.  None of the outcomes were ideal.

“I’ve known them both for years.  Since our time on  _ Dark Moon _ .  It would never happen.  They’re together because they want to be together.” And had finally gotten over whatever hangups they’d had that kept them apart.

Masuno and the actress they were talking to shook their heads.  “Impossible.”

She should probably warn Tsuruga-kun what was being said.  Or Kyoko-chan.  Or both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm dropping down to just Tuesday postings on this fic for now so I can post a holiday fic over well the holidays. :D So on Friday will be the first installment of "A Very Hizuri Christmas".
> 
> (Though I think I successfully guilted my editor into editing again. My poor husband, he's so busy and yet he still caters to my whims.


	13. Paternal Instinct

“Shigenoi Kazuhiko.”  

The line was quiet for a minute.  “I’ve heard of the man.  He’s good at his job, even if he uses sometimes less than reputable methods on occasion.  I’ll reach out to him.  Thank you, Kyoko-chan.  I’ll see you in a few weeks once we’ve had a chance to go through everything.”

“Of course.  Thank you, Toudou-san.”

“Well, this was my idea.  No one wants to see you get hurt.”

“I know, it would be an inconvenience.”

There was a sigh.  “You know that wasn’t what I meant.”  She was being scolded.

“I’m sorry, Toudou-san.  I shouldn’t have said that.  I know that you care.  I just want this whole situation behind me.”

“Of course.  We all do.”  He paused.  “The time for our meeting is all right? It won’t mess up your schedule?”

“No, it will be fine.  My manager has already put it into my calendar.  I know how busy my mother can be.”

Another pause on the line.  “When am I going to meet your young man?”  His voice, which had been concerned and serious before, was now cheery and Kyoko paused.  It was suspicious.

“My what?”

“Tsuruga-san.  You’re seeing him, correct?  The entertainment section had a whole thing outlining your friendship up to your date on Tokyo Tower.”

She sighed.  That had been such a horrible piece of writing.  Ren and her had laughed at all the mistakes.  “That was not an accurate piece of reporting.”

“So you aren’t together?  But there was a picture.  Was it for a role?”  His voice was saying that if she didn’t tell the truth, he’d be looking into it himself.  And that… could be awkward.

“No, we are.  It’s just…”

“Just?”

“We’ve been together for some time longer than the media thinks.”

Again with a quiet line.  “Ah.  So you let yourselves be photographed. Is what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”  Her voice had gotten very small.

“Then you must really care about him.  More than Katagiri-san’s nephew?”

She sighed again.  “Yes, very much so.”

“Then I really would like to meet him.”

“Toudou-san...”

“Just for coffee on a day that you’re both free.  There’s a little shop down the block from the offices.  Get in touch.  Sometime next week.  Maybe after your new drama airs.  I’ve seen a lot about it too.”

“You don’t have to be nice.”  He’d been following her career since he found out she was in show business.  Partially to keep her mother up to date on what she was doing, no doubt.

“I’m not being nice.  I want to meet him.”  His voice was much sterner.

“All right. I will see.  Thank you, again.  My interview is about to start.”

She hung up the phone and exhaled.  She really liked Toudou-san and he did honestly care about her, but the whole thing was so awkward given that he was her mother’s friend or something that didn’t bear thinking about.

There was a knock on her waiting room.  “Are you about ready, Kyoko-chan?”

“Yes, I have finished my call.”  She exited the waiting room.  Director Shingai was standing there waiting for her.  He looked expectant.

“Director?”

“How long, Kyoko-chan?”  When she didn’t answer right away, he cornered her.  “I know this is a media game.  I even sort of understand why.  Ren has some very dedicated fans and after the nonsense on the set, I get it… but I want to know.”

She held up two fingers.

“Months? Really that’s it?”

She shook her head.

“Years?” He mouthed.

She looked down.  “Don’t say anything.”

He sighed.  “I can’t believe I lost.  Now I owe Ogata a bottle of whisky.  I never thought that if you were together you’d keep it quiet for more than a year...”

*~*~*

“Yes, Mogami Saena-sensei is the primary attorney, but she is working with Toudou Susumu-sensei, and he is the one that I believe you’ll be talking with.”

Shigenoi tapped his finger on his desk.  “I’d heard of the Viride law firm before, but I didn’t realise they did entertainment law.  I thought they were more of a corporate law firm.”

Tsuruga was quiet on the other line for a moment.  “Kyoko-san is a family friend, and it is a favor.  You will cooperate, of course.”  His voice was measured, and it was obvious that his word choice was deliberate.  There was something that he wasn’t saying.

“Of course.”  They said their goodbyes and the line disconnected.

Shigenoi typed in the web address for the Viride law firm and clicked through to the Associate page.  Mogami Saena was indeed Sae-chan.  He sighed.  He’d avoided that woman for years.  Had even left Kyoto to make sure they never ran into each other.  Had stopped taking corporate espionage jobs.  Though the last had more to do with the guilt than avoiding the woman that he felt guilty about betraying.

It was hard to believe that Sae-chan would ever have a family friend that was an actress.

Beyond hard to believe.

He opened another tab and ran a search for the actress Kyoko.  The first result was her page on her agency’s website.  She looked younger than he thought she’d be.  He was expecting a woman in her mid- to late twenties, but she couldn’t have been more than twenty,  _ maybe _ twenty-one.  Shigenoi wouldn’t have been surprised if she was only in her late teens.  Who would have thought that Tsuruga Ren would date someone years younger than him after all.  He seemed more the type that would like mature women.

He flipped through the images of the various roles she’d played.  Each one was different, almost like it was a different actress.  He stopped at one of a recent detective drama she’d taken part in.  Her hair was black and done up in a simple twist, but it was her face that stopped him.

He knew that face.

Almost loved that face twenty-one years ago…

Twenty-one years ago.

It couldn’t be.  It wasn’t possible.

If the girl  _ was _ actually twenty and the birthday on her agency page was correct… No.

He was going to have to go to Kyoto.

*~*~*

Kyoko looked over to her couch and smiled.  She’d never thought she’d see the day when she wouldn’t have enough space in her apartment to accommodate the number of people she had over.

Moko-san and Chiori were chatting on one end of the couch; they’d both insisted that they wanted to watch this with her.  She originally was planning to just watch with Ren at his apartment, but the additional people meant that they’d all watch at her apartment instead.  And when Yashiro found out it had turned into a viewing party, he wanted to join them as well.

It was strange.  She’d been in many dramas over the years, but this one was different.  It wasn’t the constant problems that followed the production between the delays for the movie, or her ankle, or anything.  This one… she knew that she’d never acted better.

Ren was behind her in her small kitchen, helping her gather drinks and refreshments.  He caught her looking at him and kissed her forehead as he left the kitchen with multiple drinks in both hands.  Kyoko walked over with a large tray laden with small dishes of food that she started to set on the table.

“Ah, the real reason we’re here.  Kyoko-senpai’s cooking!”  Chiori grabbed her chopsticks.  Kanae and Yashiro laughed.

Ren was watching her and wrapped an arm around her.  “Happy?”  She knew he usually wouldn’t participate in such a gathering, but made an exception for her.

She nodded.  “Everyone.  Thank you.”

“No, no getting watery.  There’s food to be had.”  Kanae brandished her chopsticks.

“Itadakimasu!”

*~*~*

The first episode of the three-part drama special ended and the only sound in her apartment was the soft piano music of the ending.  Kyoko looked worriedly around at everyone.  

“It was bad?”

Chiori was the first to break out of her reverie.  “Kyoko-chan!”  She paused.  “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Kanae was still staring at the screen that Ren had just shut off.  “I do.”  She looked over at Kyoko.  “Why don’t you act like that all the time?  Or maybe the first question should be: why would Togo-san even give you a hard time if that’s the sort of performance you were turning out?”

“How did that teacup not hit you in the face?”

“I, personally, thought the look at the end when she sees Araki-kun for the first time entering the shop was probably the best.  It gave a feeling of hope to the end of the episode, which had gotten so dark in the middle”

It was as if the floodgates opened.  They were all talking about how intense the first episode was, wondering how it would continue on from there.  Only one person wasn’t saying anything.

Yashiro poked Ren.  “She’s waiting.”

He nodded.  “I know.”  He took a deep breath and then shook his head.  “I hope Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san will not take offense at my comment, but… Kyoko?”

She looked at him.

“That was some of the best acting I have ever seen, and I think that you are most likely the best actress in Japan.”

Kyoko smiled.

“Also, I’m never watching this episode again.  Ever.  I can’t.”

“The scene in the bedroom before she leaves her husband, right?  That was ridiculously intense.  I can’t even imagine working on a scene like that.”  Chiori leaned back.  “I mean there was some serious viciousness in  _ Box “R” _ when we did it, but this… The desperation in that scene, you could tell that Tsukiko wanted it all to be over and just to run away.  The way your eyes glazed over.  It was really well acted.”

Kanae nodded.  “From a technical standpoint it was amazing.  And the direction and editing was so good.  I mean most people in the business know Shingai’s name, but he’s going to be in demand.  I’m seriously going to have to keep an eye out for a chance to work with him.  Even if I have to take lessons from Kyoko-chan on how to be a proper Yamato Nadeshiko.”

Kyoko just leaned against Ren’s shoulder and let the conversation wash over her.  She smiled.

*~*~*

Ren wrapped his arm around Kyoko’s waist and drew her tighter against him.  “Kyoko?”

“Hmm?” Her voice was sleepy.

“I want to act with you.”  He paused.  “I mean, I do look for opportunities to work with you and the hotel commercial was fun, but I don’t think either of us were really acting.”

She rolled over to face him.  “No, we really weren’t, or we wouldn’t have gotten carried away during that kiss.”

“You know how you tell me that I’m an actor that carries my co-stars along with me?  That I can force them to act?”

“Shingai says that’s when you’re taking your acting partner seriously.  He wanted you for Araki’s role, you know, but you were already attached to the movie.”

He sighed.  “Yashiro told me.  I thought I was disappointed at the time, but now I know I am.  Kyoko, when I watch a finished drama, I’m always analyzing what is going on on the screen.  How an actor portrayed their part, or what sort of direction the director might have asked for.  How body language and inflection are used to convey a specific emotion.  I am very rarely drawn into the story anymore.”

She nodded.  “Hazard of the job.  You know it’s all an act, so you look at it as such.”

“I didn’t do that tonight.”

She leaned up on her elbow.  “You tried watching it without analyzing it for me?”  She smiled.

“No, I don’t usually mean to analyze, I just always do.  But that’s not what I’m saying.  I  _ couldn’t _ analyze this.  Your acting pulled me into the story as a member of the audience.  And I can’t remember the last time that’s happened to me.”  He took a breath.  “Even right now, if I think back on a scene, the first thing that comes to mind is the impression I had watching it.  I have to actually focus to think about how it was acted.  Which was amazingly well.”

“Thank you.  You’ve been my ideal for as long as I’ve wanted to act.  To have you say that to me… I feel like I’ve finally made some real headway toward my goal.”

He brushed some hair out of Kyoko’s eyes.  “And what’s that?”

“You.  I want to be as good an actor as you are.”

“Funny, right now I want to be as good an actor as you.”  He kissed her forehead.  “Kyoko, act with me.  Let’s find a project and act. Together.”

*~*~*

“I don’t think that I’m the only one who was just amazed at how intense the first episode of  _ Take Flight _ was.  There was just so much going on.  I’ll admit that I cried in relief when Tsukiko fled her home.”

Kyoko smiled and bowed.  “Thank you.  It is the greatest compliment for an actor to be told they’ve moved their audience.”

“Were the scenes difficult to perform?”

Kyoko took a deep breath.  “It depended.  Some were harder than others.”  Now that the first episode had aired, she had been booked for a series of interviews in the morning and afternoon.  After the next episode, she’d do another turn on the variety circuit in the evenings.

The presenter for this particular talk show was rather bland, but the ratings were always high.  So she wasn’t expecting too difficult of questions.

“I’d imagine that the traditional scenes would be the hardest.  Like that tea ceremony scene.”

Kyoko nodded.  “Actually, that was one of the easiest scenes to film for me.  I was raised in a rather traditional environment, so I needed very little tutoring.”

“Really?  That is surprising.”  The presenter smiled at the camera.  “Do you think that is why the role suited you so well?”

Kyoko tilted her head to the side to think.  “No, but I do think it made aspects of the role easier.  What appealed to me about Tsukiko as a character was her desire to get out of a bad relationship and then reinvent herself.”

“Out of a bad relationship?  Do you have experience with such a thing?  Is that where you drew your inspiration from?”

Damn. She should have phrased that differently.  Kyoko was glad she was already smiling, made it easier to keep the mask on.  “There’s nothing like what Tsukiko had to go through in my past, no.”

“But there is the rumor that you were attached to Fuwa Sho, and that things didn’t end well.  Even to this day, it’s been said that he comes to your sets.  I’ve heard that over the past four years that he’s given you lavish bouquets and gifts, and that there have been long private conversations and very public arguments.”

Kyoko did the only thing that she could think of.  She laughed.  Not viciously, but as if it was all a great joke.  “Sho-chan and I?  I’m sorry, but no.  You’re right in that I know him, we grew up together.  I’d say he was more my rival than anything.”

“Your rival?”

She nodded.  “I want to be a better actress than he is a singer.”

The presenter seemed confused.  “So you didn’t live together?”

“Live together?! Ha.  No.” Kyoko put her hand to her chest.  “We came to Tokyo at the same time, but live together?  Not at all.  I can honestly say, that once he signed with an agency, I saw very little of him until I managed to break into the industry as well.”

*~*~*

“She didn’t even flinch.”

Yashiro had turned on the TV in the waiting room that Ren was currently in.  The set for the morning modelling shoot hadn’t been completed, and they were stuck doing nothing in the meantime.

Ren sighed.  Kyoko was going to be pissed and he couldn’t blame her.  “I do not think that these were the relationship questions that she was expecting.  She’s gotten better at managing her microexpressions, though.”  It was impressive.

“So, no bad relationship?”

Kyoko put her hands in front of her in a soft ‘no’.

“Well, we could see at the end of the episode that Tsukiko had some promise for a future love.”

Kyoko nodded.  “There is a lot of promise in that look that Tsukiko shares with Koichi.”

“And it seems that your own love life has a lot of promise as well.”

Ren groaned.  

“You wanted public.   **_This_ ** is what going public is all about.”  Yashiro chuckled.

Kyoko blushed prettily for the camera.

“You’ve been friends with Ren-san for years.”

“We have.  He mentored me when I first came into the industry, and always had time for my questions about acting.”

The presenter nodded.  “Yes, we’ve heard those stories over the years, but this is the first time Ren-san has been linked with  _ anyone _ in over two years.  And this isn’t just a rumor, is it?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “No, it isn’t.”

“So tell us.  We want to hear the love story.”

Yashiro looked over at Ren, who had started to watch intently.  “Did the two of you plan this out?”

“Not really.  I knew what I’d say, but I don’t think Kyoko really did.”

Yashiro blanched.  Ren could understand why.  Kyoko, while a brilliant actress, was not actually good at lying.

“Well, it all goes back to having the relationship we did the last four years  The two of us have spent quite a bit of time together in that time, and when he went on these extended trips overseas for work recently, I found myself really missing our conversations.  It had me questioning everything I knew about our relationship and, frankly, it scared me.  I think you and I both know that he’s the most desirable man in Japan, and here I was thinking that I could be in love him and maybe he’d even feel the same.  It seemed ludicrous.”

“And when he came back?”

“We worked on a commercial together that very day and…” Kyoko smiled.  “I just knew it was time for our relationship to change.”

Yashiro was staring at the screen.  “She’s telling the truth.  Like the truth, the truth.  She’s not answering the question that was asked, but is replying with the truth.”

Ren nodded. His heart had caught in his throat watching Kyoko talk about the time he spent away.  There had been longing and worry and fear in her expression, and so much sadness.  He’d never been sure that their break had as much an impact on her as it had on him, but now he knew that it had.

“And it seems he felt the same?”

Kyoko laughed lightly.  “If he didn’t, I don’t think you’d be asking these questions.”  She sighed.  “I think Ren knew he loved me before I knew I loved him.”

“Is this what you would have gone with?”  Yashiro looked over at him.

“When we decided that we would go with a new relationship, rather than admit to how long we’ve actually been together?  Not at all.  But it works.”

“So it is love then?”  The presenter asked.

Kyoko just smiled and gave a little nod.

*~*~*

“All right, Kyoko-san, I just want you to sing like we’ve been doing.  This is what we’re going to send to the producers for the band you’ll work with on the drama to listen to.”

Kyoko nodded and stepped up to the mic.  She didn’t think that her vocal coach would actually bring her into a studio to record one song just for the band to listen to.  She thought they’d just record it into a mic during one of their lessons.

She took a deep breath and sighed.  She supposed that if she got the part, she’d better get used to this, since she’d have to record the music separately.

“All right, I’m going to start the playback; just sing with the music.  And go.”

Kyoko listened to the opening notes of the music, closed her eyes, and started singing.  She didn’t open them again until the last note faded.  It was only then that she looked into the booth where her instructor had gone and was now nodding happily.

“All right, let’s do the song that’s in English.  They wanted to hear that as well.”

Kyoko nodded.  English lyrics were popular with the Japanese audience as well, and being able to sing and clearly pronounce the foreign words could be difficult.  She took another deep breath.

*~*~*

“I’m sorry I’m late!”  Kyoko sat next to Ren at the little coffee shop across from the law offices.  Toudou-san was already there as well.  As soon as she sat down, though, she was incredibly uncomfortable.  “I should have been here first, but I had to come from all the way across town and I couldn’t get a cab.”

“What were you doing across town?”

“Ah, I had voice lessons.”

Toudou-san smiled at her.  “Is this for a role?”

Kyoko nodded.

“So you don’t even get a break even though your drama is airing?”

“Not at all, I’m already preparing for my next one and I have another commercial to shoot next week.  And I still have to do press for the drama while it airs.  Usually I’d already be filming the next drama; it just worked out where I wouldn’t be this time.”

He smiled at her and then turned to Ren.  “And you just came back from overseas, you were telling me, and jumped right into work on a new drama yourself.”

“Indeed.”  He smiled and took a sip of coffee.  “Acting takes up most of my time, but I do really enjoy it.”

“And you’re good at it.  At least you have to be to be as popular as you are.”  Toudou-san nodded.  “I don’t really follow your career, but I do make time to watch the dramas that Kyoko has been in.”

Ren smiled at that.

Kyoko for her part just ducked her head.  Why Ren had even agreed to this was beyond her.  She turned to the waiter that appeared and ordered her coffee.

“Milk and sugar?  Are you coming down with a cold, Kyoko?”  Ren narrowed his eyes at her.

Kyoko smiled at him.  “Very funny.  No.  I am not averse to milk and sugar, unlike you, but yes, I did order it that way because of my throat.  I didn’t bring enough water with me to my lessons.”

Toudou-san leaned back in his seat and smiled at them.  “Good.  I think I’ve seen enough.  I’m going back.”

“What?  I just got here.”  Kyoko blinked at him.  “I’m confused.”

Toudou-san put his hand on her head.  “It was just a little meeting.”  He waved as he crossed the street back to the law office.

She turned to Ren who had a bemused look on his face.

“You really do look confused.”  He leaned in and kissed her light and quick on the lips.  “I’m not to hurt you or damage your reputation or, in general, make you unhappy.”  He kissed her forehead.

“What?”

He smiled.  “Those are the things that I’m not allowed to do according to Toudou-san, if I want to keep dating you.  He informed me of the list before you arrived.”

She furrowed her brow.  “Why would he have said those sort of things? He’s so strange.”

*~*~*

Shigenoi Kazuhiko dropped his bag right after entering the house.  He hated coming back here, but it was where his current dilemma had started.

“Kazuhiko-sama, you’ve returned.”

He sighed and turned to the family retainer.  “It was bound to happen sooner or later, wasn’t it?  Has the old man popped off yet?”

The man sighed and straightened from his bow.  “No, of course not.  You know that you’d be the first to be called if such an unfortunate circumstance were to befall the Master.”

“Really?  Someone must have died for me to move up to first.”

The retainer said nothing and just stood there.  Many things he’d told Saena were true and many were false.  For example, it was true that while he attended college for law, he had never managed to pass the bar exam, though most of that was through absolutely no desire to.

Passing the bar exam meant working for his father.

And once he’d finished the job that led him to meeting Saena, he decided he had no desire whatsoever to ever work for him again.  His father wasn’t exactly interested in using the most above-board tactics to win his cases.  Being told to seduce that young lawyer had been his idea, after all.

His liaison with Saena had changed both of their lives on a fundamental level, apparently.

He shook his head to scatter the thoughts.  He was fifty years old, and yet when he stepped foot in this house, he felt like a stupid kid again.  

“So where is he?”

The retainer led him to his father’s study.  The old man was still practicing law even though he was pushing eighty.  Even now he was pouring over legal precedent.

Kazuhiko was glad that this was never going to be his life.

“Ah, the wayward son returns.  What can I do for you?”

“I need access to a family registry.”

“Put in a request.”

He sat down across from his father.  “You know that only works if I’m listed on the document.  I figured that you, being you, would have a way around it.”

His father looked up and leveled his dark eyes at him.  “And why should I do such a thing?”

“It’s the registry of Mogami Kyoko, the daughter of that lawyer you had me seduce and steal files from twenty-one years ago.”

His father’s eyes narrowed.  “Why would you have any interest in that file?”

“Because the girl is twenty.  You can still do math, can’t you, father?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This almost didn't get posted today, to be honest. I'm sick with a sore throat and there is toddler (first steps this past weekend, woo hoo!) that has a runny nose. Luckily, however, my husband returned after work with medicine and now the headache and throat pain are just throbbing instead of unbearable. 
> 
> As for the chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it! Friday will be the next installment of A Very Hizuri Christmas. :)


	14. Crushed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for having not posted in so long! Forgive me! I haven't given up this story. I just lost motivation for a little bit, but it's coming back. :)

Hikaru leaned back and listened to the playback a second time.  The singer wasn’t incredibly polished, but she was still pretty good.  “You say she’s primarily an actress, not a singer?”

The producer and director nodded. “The three of you wanted an actress that could sing decently.”   They’d asked Bridge Rock to listen to a sample of her singing before they decided to go with her. They also said they didn’t want the band to decide based on the actress’s name alone, so they weren’t telling them who she was.

But Hikaru couldn’t help but think he knew that voice.  He looked over at Shinichi and Yuusei.  “What do you think?”

They both nodded.  “She’ll need to keep going to the lessons until we start filming, but I think she’d be able to mesh well with our sound.”

“You said something about piano?”

“Ah yes, you can hear a bit of it on the second song.  We asked for this to check her English pronunciation while singing.  Shall I put it on?”

They nodded.  The melody was simple, which might be why it worked.  They weren’t working with a trained musician, after all, but they did want someone who could at least seem to know what she was doing and if she did learn that off of sheet music, then it could work.

“I really feel like I know her voice, though.”

Yuusei nodded.  “Me too.  It’s so familiar.”

“If you think you want to work with her, she’s waiting in a room down the hall.  Shall I send for her?”  The producer looked back and forth among the three of them.

Hikaru smiled.  “Yeah.  I think so.”

It only took a couple of minutes before the door opened again.  They all turned toward the door and stared.  Standing there was Kyoko-chan.  She smiled.  “They didn’t tell me I’d be working with Bridge Rock.”  The smile left her face.  “I will be working with you again, right?”

Hikaru grinned.  “Yes, of course.”

*~*~*

“I didn’t know you could sing.”  Hikaru looked down at her as they walked through TBM Studios.

Kyoko tilted her head to the side.  “I’d never tried before.  I only even tried because I really liked the script. I know I’m nowhere as good as an idol.”

“Well, we didn’t want an idol for this part,”  Yuusei started.

Shinichi continued.  “We’re not the best actors.  And we thought if they cast another singer as the female lead…”

“...that the drama just wouldn’t turn out as well, but with an actual actress…”

“...everything would just pop.”

Kyoko laughed as they finished each other’s sentences.  “I really am glad to be working with you again, and I hope I won’t be too much of a burden when it comes to the singing.”

“Not at all.”

“Well, we did tell the producers that you’d need to continue with your lessons until filming starts.”

Kyoko nodded.  “I expected as much.”

Hikaru paused.  “How do you think you’ll be with handling the instruments?  We heard a bit of the piano on the second track.”

“Ah, yes, I took lessons years ago and some is coming back to me.”

Yuusei sighed.  “What about guitar, have you ever handled one?”

Kyoko took a deep breath.  “They didn’t mention anything about needing to know guitar, but I do know a handful of chords. At least I think I still remember them.  I’m just not very good.”

Hikaru smiled.  “If you have some time, why don’t we see what you know?”

“All right.”

*~*~*

Ren turned the corner with Yashiro and stopped.  Off in the corner, Kyoko was sitting with the members of Bridge Rock.

“Does she have an appearance on  _ Kimagure Rock _ scheduled?”

“Not that I’m aware.  Though if they asked at the last minute, she wouldn’t say no if she had the time.”

She was holding a guitar and staring at her fingers on the frets.  The frontman was kneeling in front of her and reached out to adjust her fingers.  Then he shook his head and walked behind her to lean over and, wrapping his arm around her, adjusted her fingers again.  Kyoko strummed a note.  Another finger adjustment.  And another strum.

“Not bad.”  The frontman moved away.  “Try going from one to the other now.”

The look Kyoko gave him was one that spoke volumes.  Volumes of “You’re crazy if you think I can do that.”

Ren frowned.  Even though he knew that Kyoko was his, that there was no untowardness in the frontman adjusting her fingers like he had, and that Kyoko was friends with the three in the group, he still felt possessive and jealous.  He schooled his face back into a smile and approached.

“You said you knew a bit of guitar.”

“I said I knew chords, not that I could play them in succession.  And I haven’t picked up a guitar in... seven years.”  She turned when she heard his footfalls and frowned before smiling again.  “Ren.”

The group all turned to say hello.

“Guitar lesson?”

Kyoko nodded.  “It turns out that Bridge Rock is the idol band that will be in the new drama.”

The frontman smiled.  “We just found out that Kyoko-chan is the one who’ll be playing the female lead, and I thought I’d see if she could play any guitar.  I guess we should return you to your boyfriend.”

Kyoko laughed.  When she turned to smile at Hikaru it was much more genuine.  “I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other again.”

“It’ll be fun.”

They excused themselves and Kyoko fell into step next to Ren.  “You’re angry.  Bad day?”

“It  _ had _ been a pleasant day, actually.”

She took a deep breath.  “Then you’re angry at me.”

“No.” He paused.  “Yes.”

Kyoko sighed as they exited into the garage.

“Should I just take a cab back?  I think I’ll just take a cab back.”  Yashiro put Ren’s bag into the back seat.  “Why did I let you drive today?”

“Because your car is at the mechanic’s.  And it’s not necessary.  I can still drop you off at home as agreed.”

Yashiro sighed himself and got into the car.  “How do I end up in these situations?”

Everything was very quiet in the car as they drove through Tokyo.

“I’m jealous, and I don’t like it.”

“I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to make you jealous.”

“I know.  That’s why I don’t like it.”

“But Hikaru-kun has done so much for me.  Even recently.”  She turned to look out the window.

“Recently?”

When Kyoko didn’t answer Yashiro coughed.  “He caught her and broke her fall when Nanokura pushed her down the stairs.”

Ren pulled into a spot in the parking lot of Yashiro’s building, and Kyoko got out of the front seat to let him out.  From the corner of his eye he saw Yashiro pat Kyoko on the arm before bending down and saying good night.

“Good night, Yashiro-san.”  Kyoko got back into the car.

Ren took a minute before starting the car and driving back toward his apartment.  “He caught you?”  Any emotion he could have put into that question, he systematically stripped away before asking.

“Yes.  I would have at least wrenched my wrist or worse.  So… I feel bad.”

“Bad?”  He looked over at her when he stopped at a red light.  Her face was still turned toward the window, but he could see her frown in her reflection.

“Yes.  You were right, you know.”  She shook her head.  “About how oblivious I was.  I still think you’re overestimating the number of men who are attracted to me, but, I’ll admit that there are possibly a few.  And I haven’t held them at arm’s length as I should have, I realise that now.”  She sighed.

“Ishibashi?”

She nodded.  “He won’t do a thing.  He’s… He understands.  I just never realised that he even had any interest until he caught me.”  She turned to look at him.  Her eyes were harder than he’d expected them to be.  “I will not give you cause to be jealous, so you will try harder to not be rude.  You may think that your sparkling gentleman’s smile is perfect, but it isn’t.”

He didn’t say anything else until they pulled into his space in the garage.  “This is unexpected.”

“What?”

“You completely diffused my anger.  I’m still jealous, but I’m not angry.”  He sighed and pressed his head to his steering wheel before peeking at her with one eye.  “What caused the introspection?  It’s unlike you.”

“A lecture from Moko-san while you were gone.”

He laughed; he couldn’t help himself.  “I thought you avoided talking to her about relationships because she hated dealing with those “soft, mushy, horrible emotions” when they weren’t an act.”

Kyoko’s eyes narrowed.  “Well, a certain possessive idiot told another possessive idiot about a kiss in a hallway, and Moko-san felt  **_bad for you_ ** . And since they knew it wasn’t scripted, when the rumor went around, both Moko-san and Chiyorin cornered me.”

He took one hand and stroked her hair.  “I’m sorry.  I never should have even talked to Fuwa in London.  How much of what’s happened was because of his reaction to that?”

Kyoko turned her face into his hand and rubbed her cheek against his palm.  “Don’t.  All right.  Just don’t go down that path.”

He reached out for her and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her over the stick shift and putting her sideways on his lap.  Her feet were still on the passenger seat, but now he was close enough that he could kiss her, and he did.  

She pressed close and kissed him back.  It didn’t matter that it was cramped, or that they were in the garage just a few minutes away from being enclosed from the world inside his apartment -- right then, what they wanted was this.

His hand was resting on her knee and he slid it up under her skirt, gently rubbing the soft skin of her thigh as he licked and sucked on her lips.  “Kyoko.”

She put her hand over his and stopped him before she broke the kiss.  “Your car is not designed for this.”

He sighed.  “I wish it was.”

*~*~*

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so many NGs before in my entire career for a single scene.”  Hiou sighed and shook his head.  “I thought this role would be stupidly easy, and now this.”

Kanae looked at him as they walked.  “So you came to find me for…”

“I don’t know.  It’s stupid.  I can’t ask anyone, but I thought if it was you, then… you take your acting just as seriously as I do, after all.”

“I mean, I don’t mind you coming to me for advice, but why can’t you ask someone on the shoot?”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and shoved his hands in his pockets.  “They’ll laugh.”

“I doubt that.”

“I don’t.”  He stopped at the door to her building.  “You should hear the nonsense that they’re spouting.  Masuno and the other one. Going on and on about Ren as if they know him and what he’s thinking.  How his relationship with Kyoko has to be a publicity stunt for her drama or a cover for god knows what.  Itsumi and Ren are the only non-idiots besides myself in the entire cast.”

Kanae laughed, her eyes crinkling in the corners and he stopped.  Stopped thinking, stopped breathing, stopped everything.  “Well, I’d say I find that hard to believe, but I don’t.  Kyoko has a lot of respect for Momose-san, they’ve been friendly since  _ Dark Moon _ .”  She paused.  “You can tell me, maybe I can help.  What’s the scene?”

Hiou hung his head.  “I have to kiss that stupid Masuno idiot, and it just keeps not being any good.”

Kanae’s eyes widened.  “Like which bit?  The actual kissing or the acting?”

Hiou looked away.  This was just too embarrassing.  He never should have taken the role.  “The acting.  It’s just not right.  It’s why I’m frustrated.  Something keeps going wrong.”

“Yeah. Um.”  She unlocked the building.  “Let’s go up and see if Kyoko-chan’s home.  She’s better at explaining than I am.”

“Explaining?”

“Just… I could read the script and  _ show you _ , but I don’t think…” She sighed.  “I don’t think it would help.  When I’ve helped Kyoko-chan in the past it’s been character-building or motivational, never the actually acting bit.”

Kanae was blushing.  Actually blushing.  Hiou took a deep breath.  Show him?  She said show him… She was still talking about something involving acting advice, but he wasn’t even listening.  He didn’t know what to do, since his brain had stopped again and instead just followed Kanae up the elevator and to a door.  She rang the buzzer over and over and over.

His brain started working again.  “Won’t Kyoko get annoyed if you do that?”

Kanae shook her head.  “She’s practicing.  It’s the only way she’ll hear it.”

Eventually the door opened.  “MOKO-SAN!”  Kyoko opened her arms wide, but Kanae stepped around them and inside.  Hiou followed her path.

“We’re here for shop talk.”

“Oh?  Do you want something to drink?  There’s tea, coffee, water… and that’s it.  Oh, but the coffee and tea would have to be black, I don’t even think I have sugar.  And I’m completely out of gyokuro.  I need to go grocery shopping.”  She sighed.  “I’m a failure as a hostess.”

*~*~*

Kyoko leaned back into her couch and put the script to the side.  “So, what does your character feel during that scene?”

Hiou looked down for a minute, then back up.  “Desperation.  He feels like it’s his one chance and he has to take it.  And I’m doing that, but it’s still wrong.”

“There’s no way for me to tell you my opinion without seeing what you’re doing, though.”  She turned to Kanae.  “What do you think?”

It was like the two women were having a silent conversation that he had no hope of understanding.  Kanae stared at Kyoko for a minute; her eyes hardened and then softened before sighing and turned to Hiou.  “Do you want to run the scene with me so that Ko-ko-chan and I can figure out where things are going wrong?”

Hiou swallowed.  He hadn’t expected this, but nodded anyway.  “Fine.”

At the end he turned away, and they both looked at Kyoko.

Kanae was the one to speak first.  “It’s definitely wrong.  It’s as if…”  She never finished.

“You break character and then go back into character two seconds later.  For the actual kiss, there is a complete _ lack _ of character.  At least if that’s how you’re doing it during takes.”

“Of course it’s how I’m doing it during takes!”

Kyoko looked at him.  Her eyes were hard and he looked away.  He knew what she was getting at without her spelling it out in front of him and Kanae.  She wanted to know if he was acting differently because the actress was different… because he… liked Kanae.

“It’s the same.”

“Remember that… conversation we had a while back?  About where the tension is kept in the body when you’re angry?”

Hiou nodded.  He was just glad that she didn’t mention why they’d been having the conversation and Kanae didn’t even look curious, so as far as he was concerned it was a win.

“Desperation is similar.  Right now, You’re dropping all the tension and then bringing it back.  So you lose the emotion at the most important part.”  She sighed.  “And since you’re so focused on the desperation, when you lose that, the rest of the character is lost.”  She was interrupted by her buzzer going off and she picked up the handset next to her on the couch.  “Hello?... You have a key, you can use it.”  She hung up.  “What was I saying?”

Hiou turned at the sound of the door unlocking and opening.  Ren came through the door and lifted one eyebrow in surprise.

“This… was not what I expected.”

“I have unannounced guests!”  Kyoko looked really thrilled about that.  “We’re discussing acting.”

Ren’s gaze landed on Hiou, and Hiou couldn’t help glaring and looked away.  He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Ah, your retakes.”  He turned to the ladies on the couch.  “He’s breaking character.”

They both nodded.  Hiou grumbled.

“Oh, that’s right.”  Kyoko turned her attention back to Hiou.  “So, why don’t you think about where in the body you’d hold the tension of desperation, and how it’d be different than anger, knowing that you can’t use your eyes.  You can’t let go of that.”  She paused. “And well…”

“The kiss itself should be deeper.  It comes across a bit too much… teen romance.  Your character can’t compete with his brother with a kiss like that.”  Ren interrupted.  “However, I don’t think the director would give you a NG if you don’t.  He’s just looking for you to not stop acting in the middle.”

Hiou sighed.  The last thing he wanted was pity from Ren.  God.  As if the whole thing wasn’t so damn embarrassing already.

The man continued.  “He’s actually doing pretty good with the material.  You’d be impressed.  Personally, I think it’s more a mechanics issue than an acting technique issue.  He’s just not used to these sorts of scenes yet.”

Kyoko laughed.  “So what you’re really saying, Ren, is that Hiou-kun’s not in danger of being kicked off the set for a week because he can’t act a love scene?”

Hiou looked up.  Kyoko was laughing at Ren.

“You got kicked off set for not being able to do a love scene?”

Ren sighed.  “It’s not like it’s a secret.  Everyone involved with  _ Dark Moon _ knew that I was having trouble with the character for a while.  It was a very different sort of problem, however, in that I didn’t have any life experience that I could draw from, so the emotion of the act was falling flat.  I couldn’t even imagine what the character was going through.  Whereas your problem, Hiou-kun, is just more of a practice issue.  I’d take that over what I went through any day.  Practice can be had.  Life experience is a little more difficult to come by.”

“But people still talk about how good your Katsuki was.”

He smiled at Hiou and turned to Kyoko and gave her a tender look.  “Like you, I had some help in figuring out where my shortfall was.”

*~*~*

“They’ve been together longer than it’s been reported.”

Kanae looked over at Hiou as they walked down the stairs.  “That wasn’t a question.”

“The way he looked at her…”

She nodded.  “Though not as long as you’re thinking, but yes, I do think he realised how he felt about Kyoko-chan while they were working on  _ Dark Moon _ .  And it still took over a year after that for them to actually start seeing each other.”

“Over a year?”

Kanae nodded.

“Lame.”

She laughed and leaned against the wall of the staircase.  “I think he was worried about her age, amongst other things.  He’s four years older than her.”

“My mother is almost a decade younger than my father.  Four years is a joke.”

Kanae looked down.  “You might think so, but I can understand where Tsuruga-kun was coming from.”  She looked at him.  “I never wished you a Happy Birthday last month.  What would you like for turning seventeen, senpai?”

Calling him her senpai was a joke between them, even though she really did think of Hiou as her senpai in a way.  This was a way to lighten the mood and to change the subject from emotions, which she never really liked talking about.  Every time she thought about the the age difference between Kyoko and Tsuruga-kun, she started thinking about how it was similar to the age difference between her and Hiou.  And she hated herself just a little.

He stared at her for a while, and Kanae felt the color rise in her cheeks.  Damn it, why was he looking at her like that?  She really didn’t expect his next words.  “An acting lesson.  Teach me to kiss, Kanae.”


	15. Protection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remembered to update! Thank you all so much for your patience. <3 <3 <3

“Uesugi-kun, are you ready?”

From the corner of his eye, Ren saw Hiou-kun raise a finger asking for one more minute.  The teenager looked down and closed his eyes, pressing his fingers to his forehead.

“Preparing himself for more NGs, no doubt.”  Masuno sighed behind him.  “Why’d they have to cast a teenager?”

Ren didn’t turn to look at her.  “Because the role is a teenager.  And he’s visualizing.  It’s a legitimate technique, mentally going over your acting before actually performing.  I do it myself quite frequently when I have trouble with a scene.”  It was only then that he looked at the actress.  “You should take your place so you can start once he’s done.”

Masuno frowned and went onto the set, sitting on the sofa. She didn’t stop glaring at Hiou-kun, though.  Ren was disappointed in her.  She acted more childish than the teenager on set.

“Ready.”  Hiou walked onto the set and took his place.

He’d been surprised to find Hiou in Kyoko’s apartment, but talking with the young man about the scene he’d been having trouble with made him decide that Hiou was probably more serious about his acting than Ren had been at his age.  Or maybe ‘serious’ was the wrong word.  Thoughtful, perhaps.  He had tended to just attack acting problems with brute force of will. He sighed.

He glanced over at the large clock on the wall.  He knew he was on edge and it was bleeding over into his work.  He took a deep breath and turned to watch the scene as it progressed. He was only a little surprised that Hiou took his suggestion that when he kissed Masuno, he should do so deeper.  More importantly, the character break was completely gone.  The scene could progress.

He stood up and went over to the side of the set where he’d be entering toward the end of the scene.

On his cue he knocked on the door, and when it opened he walked in and looked at Masuno.  

“You look breathless.”

“I hurried to the door since I knew that it’d be you.”

He smiled, softly.  “That excited to see me?”

“Always.”

He took the actress in his arms and kissed her, making sure that it had the right amount of impact in comparison to Hiou’s kiss.  If he overpowered it, they’d have to do the scene again.  If it was too lacking, they’d have to do the scene again.  He did not want to do the scene again.

“CUT!”

He broke the kiss, dropped his arms and stepped away, turning to look at the director.  Please let the scene be good.  From the corner of his eye on the other side of the set, he could see Hiou making a similar face to the one he assumed he had.

“It’s good.”

Ren didn’t wait and stepped directly down off the set and took a bottle of water from Yashiro.  He closed his eyes for a second to recenter.  His equilibrium was completely off, and that was never a good thing.  A few deep--

A hand on his arm stopped him and he looked down at it, then the actress it belonged to.  Masuno was blushing.

“Is something wrong, Masuno-san?”  He was really getting tired of all the casual touches she eased into their day-to-day interactions.  He should maybe have Yashiro have words with her manager.  It was worse than being on the set for  _ Zero Day _ , where things were not as restrained as they were in Japan.  Or maybe the expectation of a more restrained atmosphere is what made it worse.

“I was thinking.  That kiss.  It was very well done.”  Her voice dropped lower.  “You couldn’t possibly kiss someone like that if you didn’t have feelings for them, just a little.  Don’t you agree?”

Ren took a deep breath.  “What you just said reminds me of a scene in an old Hollywood movie, Masuno-san.”  One of his mother’s favourites, actually.  He couldn’t even recall the number of times he’d seen it growing up.

“Oh?  Is it a terribly romantic movie?”

He smiled.  “Yes, it is.”

“Will you tell me about it, the scene?”

Ren crossed his arms.  “Well, one character says something very similar to what you just said to the male lead.”

She looked up at him through her lashes.  “And what does he say in response?”

“Meet the greatest actor in the world.”  He stared at her for a minute before giving a sharp bow and walking off.

*~*~*

“That was AMAZING!”  Hiou let out a sharp, short laugh and collapsed in his chair next to Itsumi.  “I never thought I’d see Tsuruga Ren lose his temper so spectacularly.  So perfect and sharp.  Awesome.”

Istumi for her part covered her mouth with her hand and just stared at Tsuruga-kun’s back as he stalked across the set toward a quiet corner where he put his hand against his forehead.  

His manager was in full damage control mode.  “Masuno-san, you must forgive Ren, he would never mean to be so sharp.  I think he must be suffering from a case of hypoglycemia.  I’m sure if we all broke for lunch, he’ll be back to his charming self in no time and you’ll see he didn’t mean what he said at all.”  He turned to the director.  “Would that be possible?  I know it’s earlier than scheduled, but it’s still just around time for lunch.”

The director just nodded.  He still looked dumbfounded.

Yashiro walked over to where Ren was standing.  “Ren, I have your bento.  Let’s go eat in your dressing room.”

The actor shook his head.

“It’s from Kyoko-chan.  Umehara-chan gave it to me before we left the offices.”

Even from the distance she was from Tsuruga-kun, Itsumi could see the tension leave his shoulders, and he walked off to his dressing room.

The power of a homemade bento was really something.

Next to her Hiou-kun made a triumphant sound.  “Found it!  The internet wins again.”  The teenager stuck his earbuds into his ears and started watching a video.  She couldn’t help herself; she leaned over to look over his shoulder and he held an earbud out to her as well.

*~*~*

The door closed behind them and Yashiro stared at his actor.  This was not normal.  “What the hell was that?”

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and held out his hand.  Yashiro handed over the bento box and watched as Ren opened it and inspected the contents.  He sighed.

“Damn it.  She didn’t sleep.”  He looked at the clock again.

“I’ll ask again, what is going on?  Snapping at an actress like that isn’t normal for you, and you’ve been checking the time constantly for over an hour.”

“Kyoko has a meeting at her mother’s office after lunch.”

Yashiro sat down in an empty chair.  “Oh.”

“And she shouldn’t have been able to make a bento. She had nothing to make a bento with, which means she went shopping.”  He looked at Yashiro.  “I didn’t leave her apartment until almost two in the morning.  And she had a magazine interview at eight.”

He nodded.  “So the all-night grocery.  The nearest one is a fifteen-minute cab ride from her apartment.  She definitely didn’t sleep, then.”  He sighed.  “Why is she meeting with her mother?”

“Oh, it’s not just her mother.  Fuwa will be there as well, along with his uncle Katagiri-sensei.  They’re going to try and negotiate a contract to keep him from going onto her sets in the future and causing scenes.”

Yashiro raised an eyebrow.  “About time something happened about that.  Do you think it’ll work?”

“No idea.”  Ren sighed and ran his hands through his hair and stopped.  No, that wasn’t something that Ren did.  He turned to look in the mirror.  Kuon was definitely bleeding through today.  He sighed again and tried to right the damage done to his hair.

They were quiet for a few minutes before Ren spoke again.  “I’ll make a very pretty apology to Masuno-san.  I just… need a few minutes alone to recenter.”

Yashiro nodded.  “I’ll give you some time.  I’ll tell the director that you’re lying down or something.  Side effect of the hypoglycemia I gave you earlier.  Eat your bento.”

Ren nodded and lifted some of the omelette to his lips with his chopsticks before eyeing the spoon off the side and switching.  One bite and he knew why.  There was shrimp hiding in the chicken omu rice.  She’d made Maui Omu Rice.  And Maui Omu Rice was eaten with spoons.   It was only a little warm, and was overseasoned -- definitely not up to Kyoko’s normal standards.  And it was all on purpose.  She was battling a monster today, and wanted him to help her conquer it.

It was a task he could manage.  He took a large spoonful and ate it.  It wasn’t that bad-tasting of a monster.

*~*~*

“You’re going to go in there, sign the contract without saying anything, and then leave.  Do you understand, Shotaro?”

Sho glanced over at his uncle.  “Yes, I understand.”

“I don’t know how this all went to hell.  Well, actually I do. You’re a little prick.”

“What would my mother say?”  He turned his attention back to the large television.

His uncle sighed.  “She’d probably agree with me at the moment.   _ She _ wants you to sign this contract too, Shotaro.  That girl, she’s not even available anymore.”  He switched the TV off.  “And stop watching that drama.  It’s doing you no good.”

“I’ll watch what I damn well please.”  Even if it was Kyoko’s drama.  Even if watching her  _ pretend _ to fall in love was… painful.

His uncle crossed his arms.  “You were supposed to be here for just a week.  It’s been over a month.  I should have sent you home to Kyoto if you weren’t going to get back to work.”  He narrowed his eyes at Sho.  “After this is done, you put the situation behind you and go write some music and annoy your manager again with your advances.”

“Once I sign the contract, I can’t approach and talk to Kyoko anymore, is that right?”

“It’d be best if you didn’t.  If things get out of hand, you’ll have to pay a hefty sum and there is the danger of a breach of contract lawsuit.  Then you might be dealing with a court-sanctioned restraining order.”

“Fine.  I’ll sign.”  He still had one thing to say to her though.

*~*~*

“Everything in the contract is mutual.  So while Fuwa-san cannot go onto Kyoko-san’s sets, likewise Kyoko-san cannot go into his studio.  I want to point that out, even though Kyoko-san has never interrupted a recording session.”  Toudou-san flipped to the next page of the contract and pages rustled as everyone did so with their own copies.

Kyoko didn’t look down the table and fixed her eyes on the black lettering on the white page as Toudou-san continued outlining the details of the contract.  She hadn’t said a word to either Shotaro or her mother when she’d arrived.  She’d just taken her seat at the table and waited for things to begin.  She didn’t even know what her mother thought of the whole situation.

Probably thought it was a bother.  Or an embarrassment.

“And that should cover any future interactions through work, such as appearing on variety shows at the same time, or if Fuwa-san were to write music for one of Kyoko-san’s dramas.  There is also the matter of industry parties.  We understand that those are also circumstances that are beyond your control, so there are behavior guidelines for that as well.  Please make sure that you look over them and remind yourselves of them before attending events where the other might be in attendance.  It’s mostly just to avoid each other and only engage in small talk if you must engage.  This would also go for unavoidable and unexpected meetings.  If a situation arises, the instigating party, as to be determined by Mogami-sensei, Katagiri-sensei and myself, will have to pay the penalty.”

She could hear Sho sigh from the other end of the table.

Kyoko idly wondered if this was, in fact, what divorce proceedings felt like.  Chiori had made the joke and now she was ruminating on it.  She sighed.

“If everything is in order, then we can sign.  Are there any questions?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “No.  I’m ready to sign.”

Toudou-san slid the official document over to her along with a pen.  She picked it up and signed her name in all the marked places.  She slid it back, and Toudou passed it over to Katagiri-sensei to hand to Sho.

Sho took the pen and lifted it, but didn’t sign.  Kyoko looked over at him.  “How long, Kyoko?”

“Shotaro!”  His uncle had a stern look on his face.  “We talked about this.”

“No, once I sign, that’s it.  I can’t ask.  It’ll be considered instigating, and she’d never answer me.  So I’m asking now.  How long, Kyoko?”

She took a deep breath.  “It’s been in the news--”

“No.  That’s bullshit and you know it.  It’s what you want the media to be reporting.  It’s all spin.   _ How long _ have you been sleeping with him?  Don’t bother saying you aren’t.”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes!  I want to know for how long I haven’t had a chance to get you back.”

She frowned and let out a long breath.  “Over two years.”

He clenched his jaw.  “You’ve been sleeping together for over two years…”

She nodded.

“Right.  Okay.”  Nodding, he took the pen and signed his name and stood up with enough force to knock his chair back.  “Two fucking years.”  He slammed the door behind him on his way out of the conference room.

Katagiri-sensei stood and excused himself.

“Toudou-san, can you please leave?  I’d like to have a word with my daughter.”

“Mogami--”

The look her mother gave him kept him from saying another word.  He sighed and left, but not before patting Kyoko on the shoulder.

“That’s the length of time you’ve been with this Tsuruga-san?  Two years?”  Her mother asked when the door closed behind Toudou-san.

“Yes.  More than, actually.”  Kyoko looked her mother in the eye.  “Since shortly before I turned eighteen.”

“Was Shotaro correct in his assumption that you’ve been sleeping with him?”

Kyoko didn’t say anything right away.

“Are you?”  Saena was angry, and the furrow in her brow was deep.

“Yes.”

“For two years?”

Kyoko looked away from her mother.  “Yes.”

The slap shocked her and her head whipped to the side.  She pressed her hand to her stinging cheek.  

“What is wrong with you?!  Are you an idiot?!”  There was fury and contempt in her mother’s voice.  She hadn’t heard that level of disgust in a long time.  Their relationship wasn’t good, but it had been better.  Sort of.

“No.”

“You know where you came from.  You know my history.  And you’d make the same stupid mistake?”  Saena’s voice was hard, but not overly loud.

Kyoko crossed her arms.  “It’s not like that.  My situation is nothing like yours.”

“It’s not?  Tsuruga Ren is a _ fake  _ identity, Kyoko.  He doesn’t exist.  There is no information.  That isn’t normal for just a stage name. With enough digging, one should be able to uncover the information, and Toudou-san is incredibly good at digging.”

“I know that Ren uses a stage name already.  I’ve known for years.  Since I was sixteen.”

Her mother drew in a deep breath.  “So you know his name?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Kyoko just stared at her mother.  “I can’t tell you.  That is his secret, it’s not mine to tell.”

“You’re a little fool.  What will you do when you get yourself into a situation like mine and he vanishes?  Nothing is foolproof.  There is no sort of protection that is foolproof.  So what will you do, Kyoko?”

“If I end up like you?”

“Yes.”

“I’D LOVE THE CHILD!  Unlike you.”  She hadn’t meant to say that.  She stared down at the table.  “It won’t happen, though.  He wouldn’t leave me.”

“So you’re at least engaged, there are promises between you, is that what you’re telling me?  You want me to think that’s good enough?”

“There aren’t and we aren’t.  I just know.”

“You and your stupid fantasies.  Do you still believe in fairies and happily-ever-afters, too?  When will you grow up, Kyoko?  You’re barrelling down a road at full speed; you’re bound to crash.”  Her mother shook her head at her, and Kyoko could feel the disappointment and disgust.

“It’s my life to ruin.  You’ve never been interested before, please, don’t start pretending you care now.  What happened to ‘I can do what I want with my life as long as I don’t drag you into it?’”  Kyoko stood and left the conference room.  She didn’t even say goodbye to Toudou-san before she left the building and hailed a cab.

She gave the driver the address for Ren’s apartment.  She’d go to a park, but it was the middle of the day, and she’d be likely to be recognized; not ideal for tears.

*~*~*

She was sipping whisky when Ren walked into his apartment.  There was a mountain of food on the counter, as if she was cooking for his father and not him.  And the bottle of whisky that he knew had a higher level when he’d left his apartment that morning was perched on his table by the sofa.

“Kyoko?”

She looked at him and the tears started pouring from her eyes.  “I ran out of things to cook.  I don’t even know why I did it, I just needed to do something with my hands.  I…”

He was worried; he knew it had to have shown on his face.  He knelt down in front of her.  “Kyoko?”

“Corn!”  She threw her arms around his neck, completely forgetting the glass that was in her hand, half full of whisky.  The glass bounced on the floor and the whisky soaked into his jacket.  He wrapped his arms around her.  She was shaking so hard and sobbing.  He pressed his cheek to the top of her head as he rubbed her back.

This was what he had been terrified of finding all day.

He wished he could have cancelled his work for the afternoon.  Or even just long enough to go with her to that damn appointment.  Even if he hadn’t been invited.

“What happened?  Did Fuwa not sign?”

Her breath hitched.  “No, he signed, but…”  She took in a shuddering breath, and he felt the cloth of his jacket tighten across his back as she clenched the fabric in her fists.  The tears started again.

“He asked me how long…”

“We’ve been together?”

She nodded against his shoulder.  “Sleeping together.  I answered him anyway…”

The story poured out of her as he held her.  He rocked back onto his heels at some point in the middle and pulled her onto his lap, holding her close.

He stroked her hair and closed his eyes.  Her mother really didn’t like him, and now he knew why.  He couldn’t completely blame the woman -- she’d been royally screwed over by a man -- but he couldn’t help but detest her for the way that she treated her daughter regardless.

At some point, Kyoko fell asleep in his lap and he stood up to carry her to the bed, ignoring the pain in his legs from sitting for so long.  He worked Kyoko’s skirt and jacket off and tucked her in under the covers.

He didn’t know how long he stood next to the bed, watching her.  She was curled into herself.  He wanted to just curl up against her and hold her, and had every intention of doing so. But first he had something to do.

He needed to talk to Kyoko’s mother.  Somehow.  Without Kyoko realising it.  She’d never approve.

He picked up his phone and pressed the contact for Yashiro.  Four rings.  “Ren?  Is Kyoko-chan all right?”

“Not particularly, but that isn’t exactly why I’m calling.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to make an appointment for me with the President at his house.  I’d usually do it myself, but I… don’t want to answer any of his questions right now.  The sooner the better.  Just not tomorrow morning.  I need to make sure that Kyoko gets into LME.”

He waited until he heard Yashiro’s assent.  “I’ll do it now.  I’ll text the details.”

Forty minutes later the reply came.   _ Late tomorrow afternoon, between your commercial and magazine interview. _

Ren picked up Kyoko’s phone from the table and unlocked it.  He slid his finger up through her contacts until he found the one that he was looking for and pressed ‘Call’.

“Kyoko-chan?”

“No, I’m sorry, Toudou-san.  This is Tsuruga Ren.  I am just borrowing Kyoko’s phone to make the call.  I hope you don’t mind.”

There was a long pause.  “What can I help you with?”

“I need to make an appointment with Kyoko’s mother.  The day after tomorrow.”

He heard the man on the other end suck in a deep breath.  “I’ll do what I can.”

“No, not just what you can.  I need you to make this happen.  For Kyoko.  I will reschedule what I need to. I suggest you tell Mogami-sensei that she should do the same to accommodate this appointment.”

“I’ll be in touch.  I have your manager’s number.”

“Thank you.”

He hung up the phone.

Five minutes later he was under the covers with Kyoko, wrapping his long frame around her body and pulling her close.  She whimpered a little and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

*~*~*

He didn’t know what he’d been expecting.  Misonoi Kazushi was a made-up person and wouldn’t even have been on the family register anyway, since they weren’t married.

But now he knew for a fact that Saena had a daughter.  It was there in black and white in front of him, her birthdate glaring out on the page.

Well, it was what he did for a living, digging into the parts of people’s lives that they kept hidden.  It shouldn’t be hard to find out about that girl, where she’d gone to school, and what sort of life she’d led.

How she ended up in Tokyo as an actress, of all things.

He thought that Saena would insist she go to university and pursue medicine or law, or something respectable.  Acting was not respectable.

From there, he’d figure out what to do next.

*~*~*

Ren closed his eyes as he sat in the large chair by the big picture window in the President’s private study in his house.

“Ren?  Are you sure you want me to stay?”

Ren nodded.  It wasn’t that he needed Yashiro to stay, he just didn’t mind if he did.  “There’s one plus side to this meeting that I think you’d like.”

“Oh?”

Ren didn’t reply and waited for Lory to show up.

“So, Ren,” said the man as he walked into the room and sat down.  “Does this have something to do with Mogami-kun’s meeting with her mother yesterday, or your outburst while filming?”

Ren stared him in the eyes and ignored the question.  “You should be pleased, President.  You’re going to find out something I haven’t even shared with my parents yet.”

“Oh?”

Ren set the small, black velvet box on the middle of the table.  He’d stuck it in his pocket this morning on his way out the door, and he’d managed it with Kyoko being none the wiser.  The President liked extravagant shows with lots of props.  It may have only been one, but it was certainly an extravagant prop.

Lory raised an eyebrow.  “Is that what I think it is?”  He picked the box up and opened it.  A small ring was tucked inside.  The band was incredibly thin and curved slightly.  Small diamonds nested in tiny but elaborate settings across the top, as if they were little flowers or dew drops.  A larger -- but still reasonably sized, so as not to overpower the ring itself -- sapphire was the center stone.  It was all incredibly delicate.  “Nontraditional.  I like it.  The craftsmanship is exquisite.”

Ren didn’t smile.  “In other circumstances, I’d appreciate the compliment, but…”

“There’s a reason you’re telling me that you’re planning on proposing to Mogami-kun before you tell your parents.”

He nodded.  “I’m going to talk to Saena-san tomorrow.  I’m not going to ask her blessing or any nonsense like that, but I am going to inform her what my intentions are toward her daughter.  I also plan to tell her my name.  She’s looked into Tsuruga Ren and found nothing.  It reminds her of… something bad.”

The president nodded.  “I had a feeling.  You aren’t here for permission, I take it.”

“No.  I’m here to request a confidentiality agreement to make her sign.”

“You don’t trust your girlfriend’s mother?”

“Not at all.”

*~*~*

Yashiro stared down at the ring in its box as they drove back into Tokyo toward the LME offices. “It really is a beautiful ring.  It’s perfect for Kyoko-chan.”

Ren smiled.  “I ended up working with a jeweler to get the exact look.  If I am doing this, I should do it right.”   He had one magazine interview and photoshoot, and then he’d be able to go home.  He’d extracted a promise from Kyoko that she would come to his apartment after she was done for the day.

Yashiro snapped the box closed.  “I know you only took it out for a rather unpleasant reason, but have you decided when you’ll be asking?”

Ren shook his head.  “This winter probably, maybe in the early spring.  Almost a year after I had originally planned.”

“I know you had to delay since you went with the new love story, but for what it’s worth, I think it’s working.  Your fans seem to accept it.  I think it helps that the two of you aren’t flaunting your relationship at every opportunity.  There have only been a couple other pictures of the two of you together, and they’ve been quite mundane, really.”

Ren nodded.  “ _ Take Flight _ is getting a finale party in a few days, by the way.  To coincide with the last episode.  Nothing elaborate.  Mostly it’s for the press, but I’ll be going with Kyoko.”

“Umehara-chan already informed me.  Don’t worry, your schedule is free.  I made sure of it.”

“Good.  I have enough to worry about.”

*~*~*

 

Ren sat in front of Saena-san’s desk and waited.  He was only marginally surprised that the woman wasn’t there yet.  The women at reception had been surprised to see him since he wasn’t on the books.  It just said “personal meeting:  See Toudou-san”.

A phone call to the aforementioned man, a couple autographs and a picture “to show their friends that they’d actually met Tsuruga Ren!” later, and he was sitting in Saena-san’s office with a cup of black coffee and a little plate of treats in front of him.

“Don’t just come into my place of work and make those flighty girls up front worse at their jobs than they already are.”

He turned and stood, giving a short bow to Saena-san as she came in.  “Ah, I had an appointment, I believe, Mogami-sensei.”

“Toudou-san cleared an opening in my schedule without my permission.  He’s meddling again.”  She sat down, and he did as well.  He took a sip of his coffee and watched her face over the lip of the cup.

Saena-san was a beautiful woman.  There was no question about that.  And Kyoko looked quite like her at times.  Especially when she was taking on a more austere character, like the woman in the detective drama that aired right after he left Tokyo.  The darker hair of the character and the conservative business attire… she’d looked like a younger version of her mother.

He was sure that neither of them would like to hear that.

He reached into his jacket, pulled out the papers that the President had given him, and tossed them onto Saena-san’s very organized desk.

“And what is that?”

“Kyoko told me that you were looking into me.  Or rather, that you’d had Toudou-san look into Tsuruga Ren.  That,” he pointed at the sheaf of papers, “is a confidentiality agreement.  Quite standard.  If you were so curious, you just needed to ask.”

Saena-san narrowed her eyes and flipped through the document.  There wasn’t any sensitive information contained within.  Most of it was just boilerplate legalese, something that she had to be very familiar with.  He wasn’t even sure what firm the President held on retainer for LME, but they were good at their job.

“You want me to sign that?”

He nodded.  “Your daughter signed one.”  He hadn’t asked, but when it became obvious that she knew to the President, he’d cornered her.  She didn’t even blink, just signed, because of course she would protect Ren’s secret.

“She’s a stupid girl.”

His eyes narrowed.  “She isn’t.  Do not speak of her like that in front of me.  You may have given birth to her, but you do not have the right to belittle and condemn the choices that she’s made in her life.  A life you may have given her, but not one that you took any interest in beyond informing her that her choices were an embarrassment to you.”  He paused.  “Are you going to sign, or prove to me that your ‘interest’ in who I really am is nothing but a cheap play at acting like a mother for once, and was nothing but faked concern?  You are not the actress, after all; your daughter is.”

Saena-san glared, but picked up her pen and signed her name before pushing the document away.

He nodded.  “My name is Hizuri Kuon.  I’m going to assume that you’ve heard of my father, Kuu?  Though maybe you know him better as Shuuhei Hozu.  He would have been quite the popular actor when you were in your early twenties.”

A slight blush colored Saena-san’s cheeks, and she nodded.  Ren wasn’t surprised.  She was of the right age to have known his father back when he was all the rage with young women.

“My mother is Juliena Hizuri,  _ nee _ White.  You probably haven’t heard of her.  She’s an internationally renowned model who recently retired from modeling, and is now working as a fashion insider for some network or something. As well, she’s on the board of a fashion magazine, and works closely with multiple designers.”  He sighed.  “Both my parents adore your daughter, by the way.”

“She’s met them?”

He nodded.  “More than once, though not as often as they’d like.  It’s easier for my father since they actually have a known friendship and they socialize when he comes to Japan, but my mother has surprised her on a couple out of Japan shoots that she’s done.”

Saena-san didn’t say anything, and Ren continued.

“However, information on my parents is easily accessible.  I believe that you wanted to know about me, so I’ll tell you.”

“I came to Japan at the bequest of the President of LME, who is good friends with my father, after I fell into the curse of being the child of celebrities plus a teen actor in Hollywood.  I was doubly doomed, you could say.”

“Sex, drugs, etc.?”

“I was only fifteen when I came over.  But yes.  Smoking, alcohol, getting involved with the wrong crowd, and yes, there was occasional marijuana use as well.   In addition to having issues with some directors and taking on roles I was too immature to handle at the time, it ruined some of my chances with other projects I was working with, and I was fired.  More than once.  Then there is the bad crowd I mentioned.  Things with them got out of hand, and it led to the death of a dear friend of mine.”  He paused.  He needed to keep speaking about his past as dispassionately as possible.  “My parents pretty successfully buried the story, but celebrity power couldn’t fix the toll it had taken on me.  I fell into a deep depression.  So I came here to Japan with the intent to reinvent myself.  I cleaned up my act and changed my physical appearance to make myself look more Japanese, and started working.”

Saena-san had her arms crossed over her chest.  “Any my daughter knows all this?”

He nodded.  “She does.  She loves me anyway.  She has never shied away from the darkness or ugliness of people.  I don’t think she ever thought it was an option.”  He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.  “She also knows that I’m not that person anymore.  That I’ve spent nine years working toward not being that person anymore.”

Ren took a deep breath.  “She has helped me more than she can ever understand.  And if she can’t, I certainly don’t expect you to.”  He leaned forward.  “I love your daughter.  More than anything.  In fact, everyone who comes to know her, loves her.  Even that bastard Fuwa.”  The  _ everyone except you _ was left unsaid.

He stood up.  “I hope that clears up any questions about who your daughter has fallen in with.  Between what I’ve told you and a search engine, you should be able to see a fuller picture.”

He leaned over the desk and took back the papers he’d had Saena-san sign.  He stared at her while they were eye level.  “One more thing.  Do not,  _ ever _ , lift a hand to your daughter again.”

Saena-san narrowed her eyes.  “So you expect her to attach herself to you while you live this double life?  How is that any good for her?”

He shook his head.  “Plans are already in motion for revealing that I’ve been working under a stage name in Japan.  By this time next year, ‘Tsuruga Ren’ will be just the Japanese stage name for Hizuri Kuon, and everyone will know that.”

He turned and headed to the door.  “As for how your daughter fits into that picture.  I plan to have her as my wife.  If she’ll accept.”  

“Your wife?”

“Yes. I plan on marrying your daughter.  If things had gone according to my original plan, we’d already be engaged, but Kyoko prefers to do things more slowly.  Her handling of the public recently has been very deliberate.  So I’ll wait until the time is right.”  Very deliberate and very effective.  The negative comments about their relationship were getting fewer. He bowed.  “Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me.  I’ll be leaving.”

He shut the door behind him and walked down the hall, putting the papers back into his pocket as he walked.  Katagiri-sensei was at the end of the hall with Toudou-san.  He gave a slight bow to both men.

“Your conversation with Saena-chan went well, I assume?”  Katagiri-sensei patted him on the back.

He liked the man, but hadn’t seen him in some time.  The number of media engagements that he took were much fewer due to health reasons.  Personally, he thought he should hand over more of them to Toudou-san.  The man had a personality that would mesh well with those in the entertainment industry. Or clash in a spectacularly entertaining way.

“As well as can be expected.”

Toudou-san sighed.  “She’s a hard woman, but means well.”

Ren raised an eyebrow.  “I wonder.”

“I assume you know her history?”

Ren nodded.  “And now she knows mine.  We’re on the same page, so to say.”

At the surprised look they gave him, he smiled.  “Don’t bother asking.  She’s a lawyer, she knows better than to break confidentiality.”

He patted Katagiri-sensei on his shoulder and walked past.  “Hopefully we’ll appear on a variety show together, again, Katagiri-sensei.  Those are always fun.”  He still had actual work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the quote is from Singing in the Rain. :D I imagine that Julie loves the moments of drama. And that her penchant for melodrama rubbed off on her son, juuuuuuuuuust a bit. :D :D :D


	16. The Family You're Born To and the Family You Choose

“Too flowy.”

Kyoko sighed and went back into the changing room.  “I always wear things like that.”

“I know, but don’t you want to make an impression?”  Kanae looked through the dresses the dedicated shopper had selected for Kyoko.  She was glad Chiho-san had insisted on having someone select dresses.  If their manager hadn’t, they’d probably still be in the stage of shopping where Kyoko was bemoaning not being able to wear one of the poofy princess dresses of her dreams.

At least those sojourns were getting a little shorter.

“One of those pretty dresses with the a-line skirts and jewels would make an impression.”  Kyoko’s grumble was muffled as she removed the dress.

She spoke too soon.  “No princess dress.  You can wear one when you get married.”

Kyoko squawked and opened the curtain wearing just a long slip over her underwear.  “Don’t joke like that.  We’re not like that.  We’re fine the way we are.”

Kanae didn’t know why Kyoko always denied that she and Tsuruga-kun would eventually get married.  It’d been two years, and the man was obviously serious about not letting her get away.  Maybe she still felt burned from her time with Fuwa.  

Chiori had come back from her own perusal of the store.  “I could hear that squawk from the shoe department, you know.  Are we talking about Kyoko-chan getting married again?”

“Don’t start!”

“Can you picture Tsuruga-kun standing next to Kyoko-chan in one of those ridiculous dresses she loves?  Could he even fit in the frame during the photos?”

Kanae couldn’t help laughing.

“I hate you both so much!”

Chiori made a face toward the changing room and laughed as well.

Kyoko opened the curtain.  “We’re not getting married.  We’ve only been together for a short time.”

Kanae followed Kyoko’s gaze to a sales associate who was doing a poor job of pretending not to listen.  She sighed.  “Fine.  We’ll stop teasing until you’ve been together for at least six months.”  She turned to look at Kyoko.

“Too long and too flowy.”  Chiori crossed her arms in a large “X” over her chest.

“And the color isn’t bold enough.  You look like a beige and pink watercolor painting.”  Kanae nodded.

“Fine. You two pick something.”  Kyoko snapped the curtain closed again.

“Finally!”  Chiori jumped up and started flipping through the dresses.  “I saw one on here…”

“The dark blue?”

“Yes.”

Kanae lifted it from where she was holding the dress next to her.  “We actually agree for once.”  She shoved the dress through the opening in the curtain.

“No.”  Kyoko shoved it back out, but Kanae was prepared and pushed back.

“You said we could pick.  Chiyorin and I agree.  This one.  Try it on.  It’s not too short, which is your usual complaint.”

Kyoko sighed and they could hear the rustling as she tried on the dress.  Chiori sidled up next to her.  “Was it in her budget?”  Her voice was just a whisper.

“Barely.”

“He’ll either thank us, or hate us.”

Kanae shook her head.  “I don’t care.  She’ll look incredible.”

The curtain parted.  “No.  I can’t.  It’s too… everything.”

The two other Love Me members just smiled at each other.

*~*~*  

Kyoko took a glass of champagne off the tray and thanked the server.  She thought about downing the whole glass in one go, but that would be a bad idea.  Champagne always went straight to her head.  So instead she just took a sip and looked toward Ren, who had been ominously quiet since she came out of the bedroom.  That was an hour ago.

She was going to kill Kanae and Chiori.  There was no question.  Dead.  Both of them.

She rolled her shoulders back and sighed.

“What’s wrong, Kyoko?  I’d rather not see you sigh like that.”  Ren’s voice was quiet.

“Don’t you mean hear?”

He shook his head.  “No, I definitely mean see.  He glanced down to to the wide V-shaped neckline of her dress, and then away.

She blushed.  Even her more daring and sexy dresses, in her opinion, were always a bit more demure, but what did those two coerce her into buying?  A body-con bandage dress.  There wasn’t a single place that the dress wasn’t hugging her body except for the flared sleeves at her elbows.  The neckline was low, the back was a cutout and… She sighed again.

Ren put his hand on her bare back and leaned forward to whisper.  “Please stop sighing.  And shouldn’t you look happier?  Your drama special has been hitting ratings gold.  Isn’t this party to celebrate that?”

She nodded.  “But you look so displeased.  If you were busy you didn’t have to come.”

Ren swallowed.  “Displeased is the wrong word.  I was not prepared for _this_.”  He slid his hand down her side to her hip and then stepped away.

Her eyes narrowed as she remembered her shopping trip.  “I was coerced.  They practically stole my wallet and used it to pay for the dress.”

“Kotonami-san and Amamiya-san?”

Kyoko nodded.  “They said that I had ‘landed’ the most desirable man in Japan and that Japan needed to know why.  I don’t even know what they _meant_ by that.”

She smiled as one of the producers came up to greet them.

After a few minutes, the producer moved on.

Ren took a deep breath and smiled at her, picking up their conversation as if they’d never stopped.  “They meant that they know there is more to you than the effervescent flowery girl that usually shows up at these events.”  He put his hand on Kyoko’s back and pushed her further into the room with him.  “I don’t think I’ve told you, but you look amazing.”

She took as deep a breath as she could and relaxed.  “No you didn’t.  Why didn’t you say earlier?”

“First, because even watching you breathe in that dress is a bit distracting.  Second, because of point one I didn’t want to get into an accident while driving here.  Third, I realised we had _hours_ to go before I could take you back home.  And finally fourth, your beauty stole my words.”

She blushed at the line even though she knew it was a line.  She hated it when he did that.

He smiled.  “Better.  I will stop looking displeased if you smile.”

“If you insist.”

“Kyoko-chan!  Ren!”  Shingai signaled them and they walked over.  “You look stunning, Kyoko-chan.”

She thanked him.

“The press will be starting their interviews soon.  You’ll be going first as the lead.  Then Araki-kun, me and finally Togo-san.  Then we’ll have the press showing, and finally we’ll do group questions after.  I’m afraid that Ren will have to amuse himself for a while.”

“I think I can handle that.  I’ve been to enough of these that I know how it goes.”

Shingai nodded.  “That’s true, though you’re usually the star.”

“I’m just pleased to be celebrating Kyoko’s accomplishment with her.”

“I bet.  She’s come to how many of these by herself these last couple of years?”

“Shingai-san!”

“It was a **_really expensive_ ** bottle of whisky, Kyoko-chan.”

*~*~*

“Having a hard time concentrating on your script?”

Ren looked up.  Momose-san was standing over him with a grin on her face.  “What?”

“Your picture is _everywhere_ this morning.  Did I tell you how cute a couple you make?  Because you do.”

Ren closed his eyes and smiled.  “Thank you, Momose-san.”

“I’ve thought so all the way back to when we were shooting _Dark Moon_.  I almost had mentioned that to Kyoko-chan after our finale party, but I never did.  Did you know that she’s filming a commercial in Studio F this morning?”

Ren nodded.  He’d driven them both to the studio where they’d met their managers.  They hadn’t even been late.  Somehow.  Which was amazing given how little sleep they’d gotten.  Because of that dress.

Momose-san smiled brighter.  “We got to talking this morning before she started.”

“Did you win your bet, Momose-san?”

She practically twinkled.  “I did.”

He sighed.  “How many other people have bets with Director Ogata?”

“Hmm.  Not many.  A couple other directors and some actors.  A couple other people.  Pretty much only people that have worked with both of you, and there aren’t that many projects that you’ve done together.  Oh, well, Director Kurosaki didn’t actually bet anything, since he says he only puts his money on sure things.”  She leaned on the table where he had his script.  “Are you going to work with her again?  Now that it’s all official?”

“We did a commercial when I got back from overseas, but at the moment, no there’s no project that we’re both lined up to work on.”

“That’s disappointing.  After _Take Flight_ I’m sure that she’s going to be in demand.  She might even shoot up the popularity charts.  I think Japonet Scope is releasing the results for their next poll next week.”  She paused.  “Oh, but you won’t be here.  You have a location shoot out of the country for a week for one of your other projects, don’t you?”

He nodded.  He was going back to LA to finish _Zero Day_.

*~*~*

“We have a special guest with us tonight here on Kimagure Rock!”  Hikaru smiled and the audience cheered.

Kyoko shook her head from the wings.  The hosts were such great hams that they made the show fun to watch, and it had maintained a decent amount of popularity for a variety show over the last four years.  It wasn’t filmed live except for special events, but they always had a pretty full audience.

She tuned back into what the hosts were saying.

“I couldn’t help myself, I cried myself to sleep last night.” Hikaru was saying.

Yuusei pat him on the back.  We know how invested you’ve gotten in _Take Flight_ the last six weeks.”

“Every other week!  It only came on every other week!  I was on pins and needles.”

It always amused her how their leader was not the straight man.

“But think of what a special show we have for our audience today.  The last Kimagure Rock before we go on hiatus to film our upcoming drama!”

The crowd got really loud.  There were a lot of their fans in the audience tonight.  It was going to be a fun show.

“We even planned a special treat for the very end, and we’ll be announcing the actress that will be working with us on our drama!”

“But first I think we should find out what Kyoko-san had to think of the ending of _Take Flight!_ ”

The new Bo came up and held out his wing to her.  They’d even gone with the tux outfit.  She was rather flattered.  She took his wing and headed out onto stage.

She was actually taken aback by the amount of applause she received.  This was the first interview after the finale that had an audience.

When it came time for the eggs, Hikaru gave her a look.  She looked over at them.  They were marked.  They must have picked the questions ahead of time.

“First egg!  I hope we get one of the good ones, because there were lots today!”  He started reading.  “I never followed your career until _Take Flight_ , but some of my friends said you were amazing in _Dark Moon_ , was that your first time acting?”

“I haven’t thought about Mio in ages!  But no, it wasn’t.  I’d done a couple of small projects before, most notably a PV for the song ‘Prisoner’ and a commercial for Curara with Kotonami-san.  But my first time ever acting in my entire life was actually with Director Shingai.”

“Really?”  Shinichi sounded genuinely surprised.

She nodded.  “It wasn’t on film or anything, but I was working as an assistant for an actress on a shoot of one of his films and did some stand-in work for her.  I had more fun than I thought I would, and it was then that I decided that acting would be the path that I would go down.”

“We didn’t know that one.”

She laughed.  “Well, it was before I met the amazing members of Bridge Rock for the first time.”

Yuusei pulled the next egg.  “I was really angry when Ren-san started dating you and decided that I would never like you at all, but then I saw the pictures from the _Take Flight_ finale party posted online.  He really looks like he loves you.  So I thought I would maybe give you a chance.  I want to hear more about your love story.”

She bowed to the audience.

“We even asked her what picture she was talking about, and we have it here.”  The picture in question appeared on the large screen behind them, and Kyoko turned to look at it.  Ren had his forehead pressed against hers and his eyes closed, and she was stroking his cheek.  The last few weeks hadn’t been easy on either of them.

“We didn’t even know there were still photographers around, actually,”  she said.  She swallowed; it was a really sweet picture and she didn’t look out of place next to him at all like she always feared she would.  Maybe Kanae and Chiori were onto something when it came to that dress.  Their death sentences would be postponed.

“So, more love story?  It was a request.”  Hikaru smiled.  She knew who was responsible for this question popping up now.

“All right, a little more.  Well, I think it’s common knowledge that Ren and I have been friends for years.”

The hosts all nodded.

“What isn’t is that when we first met, I hated him.  And he hated me.  We really did not get along at all.”

“Are you sure this is a love story, Kyoko-san?”

She laughed.  “It is.  Obviously, we don’t hate each other anymore, but it really was never going to be an ‘and then we talked all night and I knew I loved him the next morning’ story.  It was more like we poked and prodded and annoyed each other because we really didn’t understand where the other was coming from, and I was only sixteen when I met him.  It took a lot of meetings that ended in spats before we actually had a sort of breakthrough in our relationship. I was acting as his assistant while his manager was out with the flu and running lines with him, and we had an honest conversation about acting and why I was studying it.  And even then, it didn’t turn into love right away.  I had too much respect for him as my senpai and as an actor.  He, however, loved to tease me, though I didn’t understand that at the time.  I thought he was a bit of a bully.  But even though he teased, he would always find time to help me with any acting problem I was facing.  Always.  It was a gradual thing.”

“So how did you know it was love?”

“When I realised?  It wasn’t an immediate thing, but it started when I had spent an evening practicing a part with him, and the next day I watched him act it out with his co-star and I was a little jealous.  Not hugely, but I remember definitely thinking that I was jealous.”

“But it still wasn’t love for you?”

“It might have been, but then at the time I didn’t think I deserved him.  He was my dear senpai and friend.  And I wasn’t going to ruin that, even though I knew that if I wasn’t careful, I could find myself really falling in love with him.”

When they cut for break to set up the stage for Bridge Rock to perform, Kyoko walked over toward the audience where some people were calling to her.  She did the normal autographs and pictures posing, but she was really surprised when a group of girls who were obviously fans of Ren asked her for her picture, too.  She smiled and agreed before heading off to get changed.  Maybe they really were coming around.

*~*~*

“What scene were you talking about on _Kimagure Rock_?  That we’d been working on.”

Kyoko looked over to where Ren was sitting on the couch, watching her cook.  It was his last night in Japan.  In the morning, he had an appointment with Muse-sama to strip the dye from his hair, and then in the afternoon he’d fly out.  “You watched _Kimagure Rock_?”

He nodded.  “Just the interview and questions.  I shut it off before they performed.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “The one that made me jealous?”

He nodded.  “You haven’t been lying during any of these interviews.  Twisted the truth and left out details about when, but you haven’t lied.”

“Are you trying to figure out when I started to fall in love with you?”

“Yes.  You’ve never told me when, exactly, and I never thought to ask.  The only time I can think of that matches with that story _and_ fits the timeline of our _real_ relationship was when we were working on Katsuki before my acting test.”

“Interesting.  The only time?”  She lifted a little dish of sauce to her mouth and took a sip.  “Hmm.  Needs some heat.”  She ducked down and started looking through the drawers for the dried chilis and smiled.

“Kyoko?”

“Hmm?”

“Was that the scene?”  His voice was close.  Much closer than she expected and she looked up.  He was standing over her.

Her breath caught.  She remembered this look.  His Emperor of the Night look.  She couldn’t say anything.

He reached out with his thumb and stroked her bottom lip.  “Well, Kyoko?”

This setup was even feeling a little familiar.  “Yes, I knew then that if I ever acted with you, I’d fall in love with you, but I was jealous of not getting to act with you.  I had to go through some terrible mental gymnastics to deal with the situation.  And this after the night before when I thought my heart would beat right out of my chest...”

He dropped to his knee and kissed her, pressing her back against the cabinets.  Her heart started beating faster.

She gasped when the kiss broke.  “The soup.  It’ll burn.”

He kissed her again.  “I’m sorry, but I just might have to let it.”

*~*~*

This time, his father just tossed the keys to him as soon as he saw him.  He caught them and waited for the last of the fans to disperse.  

“Just for a little over a week?”

Kuon nodded.  “Yeah.  Three days to finish the principal photography, two days of reshoots, which thank god, there aren’t many.  Then two days out in the Mojave.  I’ll be flying out of Vegas instead of coming back to LA.”

“Your mother isn’t going to like hearing that.”

Kuon tossed his bag in the trunk.  “I know, but I have work back home that needs to be done and Vegas is closer to where we’re filming. I’m in the middle of shooting a drama and a week was all that I could spare.  So we’re doing the product placement commercial for the car on this trip as well.”

“And then nothing until April, unless you have something come up with one of your modeling contracts?”

“Well, I have a shoot in Okinawa for one of them on my way back to Tokyo, but there’s the overdub for the Japanese release, which can’t be scheduled until they get the timing script.  We’re still negotiating the press tour.  At the moment, I’m the main attraction in Asia.”

Kuu nodded as they pulled onto the road.  “So your schedule is swamped.”  He paused.  “I should warn you.  Your mother watched Kyoko’s drama.”

He sighed.  “I thought I told you not to let her.  Especially that last episode.”

“I wasn’t home, I was working.  I came back and she was crying and it was horrible.  I didn’t know what to do.  Going on and on about how the dream sequence at the end just made Tsukiko’s death all the sadder.  The what could have been of it all.  I had to make her cocoa and we watched that silly romantic comedy I made years ago until she felt better.”

“She’s not going to like hearing that Kyoko hated working with that toddler.  Hated it.”

“Did she really?”

Kuon nodded.  “Complained to Yashiro both days.”  He paused.  “She’s not even twenty-one yet.  She doesn’t want any children, and after her latest confrontation with her mother, even if I was currently interested in having any, I wouldn’t push her.  On top of that, isn’t mother skipping over the whole dream wedding thing?”

Kuu laughed.  “Miranda is pregnant again.”

“That explains so much.”  He sighed.  “I should really remind mother that Kyoko is _six years younger_ than Miranda.”

“Could you imagine what she’d be like if you were still only dating girls older than you?”

Kuon groaned.

*~*~*

The three girls stared at the screen, then looked at each other.

“Moko-san, you’re in second!  Right after Momose-san!”  Kyoko was beaming.

Kanae and Chiori were just staring at her.

“It’s really great!  Chiori, did you jump up the rankings too?”

“Her brain shut off after seeing you at number two, Kanae-chan,” Chiori leaned over to say.

Kanae shook her head.  “I actually think it just couldn’t handle the shock.”

Kyoko blinked.

“YOU WERE IN THIRD!”  The two said in unison.

“You mean that wasn’t just my imagination playing a cruel, cruel trick on me?”

*~*~*

Saena backed out of the office and shut the door.  She looked back and forth up and down the hall.  She grabbed a legal assistant who was walking by by the arm and dragged her to a stop.

“Mogami-sensei?  I’m sorry.  Did I do some--”

“Where is Toudou-san?”

The young woman’s eyes were wide.  “Ah.  I think he’s--”

“Go get him.  Now.”

She took off.  

When Toudou came up, he frowned.

“That man, why did you arrange a meeting between us?”

“Shigenoi Kazuhiko?  I assume it’s about Kyoko-chan.  He’s Tsuruga’s private investigator.”  His eyes narrowed.  “Why?  The River Mogami is especially rapid-filled today.”

She huffed.  “I didn’t realise.  I thought he was someone else.”

“Who?”  He leaned in very close and stared in her eyes.  It made her uncomfortable.

“No one.”  She opened the door and purposely closed it in his face.

Saena swallowed and walked around the desk to sit down.  “Shigenoi-san, what may I help you with?”  She was still unsettled that he looked an awful lot like _that man_ , so she would do what needed to be done and then make sure that Toudou dealt with him in the future.  Not that she could imagine why he was still working for Tsuruga-san.

“Why did the Fuwas raise her?”

Her heart stopped.  It was _that man_.  His voice was still the same.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He looked sad for a moment and then sighed.  “The Fuwas.  Why did they raise your daughter, Sae-chan?”

The furrow in her brow deepened.  “You. Don’t call me that.”

“Then answer the question.”

She shook her head.  “It’s none of your concern.”

“She’s mine.”  It wasn’t a question.  “It’s my concern.”

Saena pressed her lips into a thin line.  “She’s already reached majority.  Aren’t you a little late in wondering about her life?”

The man she knew as Misonoi sighed.  “Yes.  I am.  It never occurred to me that you might have been pregnant when I vanished.  Or that you would choose to carry the child to term.”

“It didn’t occur to me either, otherwise I might have caught the error in time to correct it.”  She watched as he flinched.  

“Sae-cha--”  Her glare cut him off.  “Saena-san.  Why did you leave her with the Fuwas?”

“It was what was best for that child.  I have no maternal instinct.  Less than none.”

“You blamed her.”  Again it wasn’t a question.

She looked him in the eyes.  “My worst mistake made flesh and blood.”

He looked down and didn’t say anything for a long time.  Saena wanted him out of her office.  She didn’t want to see this man.

“We, that girl and I, have an… understanding.”  She paused.  “If you want to know about that girl, you should ask her yourself.”

“Just like that?  You don’t want to protect her from me?”

“I don’t think she’ll take kindly to you appearing in her life.  After all, she knows the type of man you are.”  Another pause.  “That being said, I was never her protector.  Now, she no longer requires one, but…”

“But?”

“She has a very fierce one.  I wish you luck.”  She turned away.  “Show yourself out.  Never come back.”

“I really am sorry, Sae-chan.”

“There aren’t enough apologies in the world that will ever make me stop regretting giving into that soft emotion.  Leave.”

*~*~*

Kuu looked up.  Kuon was standing in the kitchen doorway with his arms folded over his chest and a thoughtful look on his face.  

“Yes, you can relax, I’m making dinner.”

“That’s not… Do... do you want some help?”

He paused in his chopping. If he’d kept going he might have chopped a finger right off.  “You want to help?”

His son took a deep breath.  “You’re making something at least vaguely Japanese, right?  You’ll need rice.”  He stepped into the kitchen.  “I can make rice.”

Kuu blinked at him.  “Rice?  Yeah.  All right.”  He couldn’t help thinking that this was going to prove interesting.  He’d never actually cooked with his son before.  He’d never bothered teaching him and he used to literally run out of the house when his mother cooked, and yet here he was.  He watched him out of the corner of his eye as he pulled out a large bowl and started measuring rice.  Kuon paused and looked over at Kuu.  “Make whatever you think.  You know I’m good to eat it.”

Kuon shook his head and bent over the bowl and his task.  Kuu kept chopping, but watched as Kuon pretty expertly washed the rice and then set it aside to soak.

“You’re making it properly.”  He had to admit, he was kind of impressed.  He was expecting Kuon to just pour some rice and water into the rice cooker and walk out.

Kuon glanced at his phone and then stuck it back in his pocket before leaning on the counter and folding his arms over his chest.  “That surprises you?  That I know how to wash rice?”

“A little.”

Kuon shook his head at him.  “I make rice at least once a week, usually more often.  First thing in the morning.  Start it even before I have a cup of coffee.”

“Really?”

He nodded.  “Get up.  Wash the rice and set it to soak.  Get cleaned up, and then start the coffee.  I used to have to have coffee first, but I’m better at it now.”

Kuu laughed.  “When did this start?”

His son shrugged and leaned on his arms on the counter, not looking at him.  “A year or so ago.  I wanted to make things easier on Kyoko since she was preparing my little breakfast bentos, and it seemed like something I could manage on my own, so I asked her to teach me.”

Kuu opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when Julie came into the kitchen.

“Are we cooking as a family today?!  I’ll…” Kuu gave her a look.  “I’ll help by sitting at the counter and keeping you company.”

The tension in Kuon’s shoulders that he noticed when Julie came into the kitchen dissipated.  

“Thank you, my love.  I just wanted to use our son here as my sous chef.”

“I’m not good enough for that.  I’ll never be good enough for that.  Rice and a fried egg, that’s the extent of what I can cook.”

“You can fry an egg?!”

Kuu laughed at how very surprised and impressed Julie sounded.

“Sort of.”  Kuon paused and took out his phone again, and Kuu realised he was checking how long the rice had left to soak.  “Mostly.  The edges usually come out brown, but Kyoko declares them ‘not bad’, so that’s high praise.”

Kuu couldn’t help himself anymore and he put the knife down and laughed, wrapping his arm around his stomach.  “‘Not bad’?”  He did feel a little bad when the faintest of blushes covered Kuon’s cheeks.

“My first attempt got me a look of horror and a head shake.  ‘Not bad’ is definitely high praise.  Just the fact that she’ll leave the task to me is high praise, really.”

“How did this come about?”  Julie was leaning her head on her hand, watching them.

Kuon shrugged.  “I pestered Kyoko into coming over when she got back from a location shoot even though she wasn’t getting back in until really late.  I woke up first and thought that it would be more considerate if I didn’t expect her to cook.”  Kuu watched a lot of emotions pass over his son’s face.  It was still a little hard for Kuon to be fully open with them.  “I had rice and there’s always pickled vegetables in my fridge now because Kyoko puts them there.  I was not going to attempt soup because… that was too hard, but cracking an egg into a pan seemed doable.”

Kuu snickered.  He remembered Kyoko talking about how she imagined a young Kuon would try to make fried eggs, and it turned out that adult Kuon’s attempt wasn’t far off.

“Yeah, that was her reaction when she woke up to my cursing.  Followed by the look of horror I mentioned.”  Kuon looked at his phone, put it back in his pocket and then took out the strainer so he’d have it ready.  “So she taught me how to fry an egg.”  Kuon smiled.

“I like it when you talk about Kyoko-chan.”  Julie sighed.

“Why?”  Kuon seemed startled.  “I mean I know that you have plans--”

Julie shook her head.  “I like seeing you talk about the woman you love.  You didn’t when you were here last time.”  She motioned toward the cabinets where the dishes were, and Kuon started gathering plates and chopsticks and everything else they’d need for dinner and passing it over to his mother.

Kuu smiled.  He liked his little family.  If only Kyoko had come along.

“There were issues.”  Kuon locked his jaw for a second.  “We’d gotten into a fight and were taking a break.”

Kuu looked up from what he was doing and stared at his son and from the corner of his eye he could see that Julie was doing the same thing.

“We’re better now.  We’ve worked through most of it.  I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures.”  Kuon busied himself with straining the water from the rice.  “But it wasn’t something that I had wanted to talk about when I was here last.”

Kuu was quiet and kept mixing.

“But you and Kyoko-chan are good now?”

Kuon rolled his eyes.  “Like I said, I know you’ve seen the pictures from the _Take Flight_ party.  You made it the wallpaper on your tablet, Mother.”

Julie laughed.  “Well, it’s cute.  Even if you look nothing like you’re supposed to.  When am I going to get proper pictures of the two of you together?”

Kuon dumped the rice into the rice cooker and measured out the water.  Kuu was surprised at how focused he was on his task.  He turned back to focus on the things he had in his pan instead.

“She doesn’t usually see me with my hair stripped.  So even if I wanted to send you pictures of us with me looking like this, I can’t.  Though…” He pressed the ‘cook’ button on the cooker, pulled out his phone from his pocket, and flipped through.  “This is the best I can offer.”  He handed his phone over to his mother.

“This doesn’t count.”

“What is it?”  Kuu looked up, and Kuon took the phone back and showed him.  It was a picture of three main cast members of _Zero Day_ , the LoveMe girls, and a couple other crew from the Tokyo location shoot.

“Taylor and I treated the rest of the cast and local crew to dinner the night before our flight left.”

“You aren’t even standing next to Kyoko-chan!  I want pictures I can show people!”  His wife was pouting.

Kuon shook his head.  “All right, so even if I end up with pictures of Kyoko with me when my hair isn’t dyed, I can’t send them to you.”

“What?!”

“Kyoko isn’t dating Kuon Hizuri, she’s dating Tsuruga Ren, Mother.  You can’t show people pictures of me with Kyoko even if you had them.  Not yet.”

Kuu sighed.  “You know he’s right, Julie.  But we’re almost there.  It’s less than a year now.”  He patted his son on the back.

*~*~*

Kyoko spun around in front of the mirror.  This was definitely not her style, but it was certainly a fun look.  Though she’d had to cut her hair again.

She almost had a flashback to when she was sixteen and working three jobs, since this was much more the sort of thing she wore then. But it looked totally different: the skinny jeans hugged her skin, and the sneaks were a trendy brand.  The T-shirt was a bit big, but cut short to make her legs look even longer.

“Cute!”

Kyoko turned to see Chiori in the doorway.  She was dressed similarly, but in slightly more muted tones to Kyoko’s bright fluorescents.

“You too!”  Kyoko smiled.  “This is not something either of us would wear out, though.”

“It really isn’t.”

The costume manager came in to inspect them, and the two girls dutifully turned around.  “Hmm, Kyoko-chan, can you try on the looser, straight leg jeans.  They’re lower cut.  And add the black belt.”

Kyoko nodded and went behind the partition to pull on the other pair of jeans.  They definitely hung lower on her hips than any of her past jeans had.  They made her look a little rougher, less put together.  She nodded.  “These are a much better fit for the character.”  She walked out of the room.

“Aw, I liked the other ones better; we were like a matched set!”  Chiori quipped.

Kyoko laughed.  “I think the other ones were more Kyoko and less Aki.”  They walked out of the room and down the hall.  Today would be the first day of filming.  The schedule for this drama was much tighter than the ones in the past, but then this time, they needed to work around a band’s schedule.

 _Kimagure Rock_ was on hiatus, but only part of that hiatus was cleared for the drama.  Bridge Rock also had some concert dates around Japan, not to mention the time they needed in the studio to lay the tracks for the show.  Though that they could at least do even while _Kimagure Rock_ was filming.

Kyoko could hear Bridge Rock goofing off as they rounded the corner.  She stopped with Chiori and they both shook their heads.

“They’re older than us, right Kyoko-senpai?”

Kyoko nodded.  “Last I checked.”

“Kyoko-chan, Chiori-san, you both look really cute!”  Shinichi dropped Yuusei’s arm and walked over to the pair.

“Hey, no fair!  I won the coin toss, I was supposed to compliment them first!”  Yuusei brushed himself off and came over as well with Hikaru.

“Shouldn’t I have that honor as the leader?”

Yuusei and Shinichi just gave him a look, and Hikaru looked down.  They all knew he would fail at that particular endeavor.

They bantered for a while before the director started scolding them for goofing off too much.

Kyoko had a feeling this was going to be a fun drama to shoot, even if the days were going to be terribly long.

*~*~*

His mother combed her fingers through his hair before sitting down next to him.  “Are you sure you don’t want to change your flight back to leaving from LAX?  I only have a few weeks to live.”

Ignoring the comment as he had most of his life, knowing it wasn’t serious, Kuon looked up from the pages he’d been given for _Zero Day_ and smiled a bit sadly.  “I can’t.  I need to fly to Okinawa for a photoshoot and then get back to Tokyo so we can start wrapping this drama.”  He jotted a note in the margin of the script.  “We’re not that much further from the premiere.  You’ll see us in Japan, and then I’ll bring Kyoko with me here and we’ll have a visit where I won’t have to work as much.”

His mother beamed.  “You’ll bring Kyoko-chan?”

He nodded.  “By then everything will be out in the open.”  He paused.  “But no talking about grandchildren.”

His admonishment didn’t seem to faze her, or maybe it didn’t even register.  “Oh, where shall we go?  Or should I cook something?  Maybe I’ll cook something spectacular.  I should look up recipes.”

Kuon grimaced.  He’d have to apologize to Kyoko in advance and afterward, repeatedly.

He heard the front door open and close, and looked up.  His father had walked through the door.

“Seems like my favourite people are chatting.”

“He’s going to bring Kyoko-chan to the LA premiere.”

Kuu nodded and smiled before sitting down across from them.  Julie stood and gave his father a quick kiss.  “I’m going to get something to drink.  Do you want anything, dear?”

Kuu shook his head.  He knew his mother would bring him something anyway.  She always did.

Kuon watched his mother leave for a minute before turning to look at his father.

“You look like you have something serious on your mind.”

He nodded.  “I do.  Kind of.  It’s a thing I decided to do and I need to talk to you about it.”

“The next step in your acting career?  All right.  Is it about moving here to LA?  Because don’t say that you want to move to New York, at least not right away.  LA would be great for you and Kyoko-chan for at least a couple of years.  And it would make your mother and I so very happy.”

He shook his head.  “That’s not what I wanted to talk about.  I’m staying in Tokyo for the time being.”

Kuu sighed.  “So what is it then?”

“I have a question for you and I don’t know when I’ll be back in LA.  But it’s not a question for my father, but for Kyoko’s Otou-san.  There isn’t another person I can ask, so I’m going to ask you, even if you’re biased in my favor.”

A slow smile started turning up the edges of his father’s lips.  “Your mother should hear this.  Julie!  Come here.”  Kuon’s mother handed Kuu his drink and Kuu wrapped his arm around her.  “We’re having a manly talk, so hush and don’t say a thing, but you’ll want to hear this.”

Kuon rolled his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and leaning forward.  He exhaled.  “I want your blessing, as Kyoko’s Otou-san, to marry her.”

“You’re going to ask her?”

He nodded.  “I don’t know just when yet, but… there’s an order to things.  It would mean a lot to Kyoko if she knew I got your blessing.  So, biased father of mine, do I have it?”

Kuu smiled and looked up at his wife.  Kuon glanced over as well for the first time.  His mother’s bottom lip was quivering, and there were tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.

“My blessing for marrying my adorable daughter?  Of course.”

The floodgates holding his mother back opened and she rushed over to Kuon to give him a hug as tears streamed down her cheeks.  He rubbed her back.  “There’s a ring?  Have you already picked it out?  I don’t suppose you brought it so I could see?”  She paused.  “Oh, should I reserve the club?  Or maybe you’d want to get married on the beach…”

“I haven’t even asked her yet, don’t get carried away.”

His mother huffed.  “It’s my job to get carried away!”

Kuon took his phone out and flipped through the photo gallery.  He’d taken a picture right before he left for the airport for this exact reason before telling Yashiro to keep the little black box and its contents safe.  He handed the phone to his mother and she stopped talking wedding details (as if they were already engaged) and looked.

“Oh, it’s gorgeous!  Not a very large stone, but I think it’ll suit Kyoko nicely.  Though -- are you sure you want to go with something so untraditional?  You could replace that sapphire with a larger diamond.”

Kuon shook his head.  “There’s a reason it’s a sapphire, mother.”  He smiled.  He had never told his parents that Kyoko was the Japanese girl he met in Kyoto back when he was ten.  They knew he’d met some Japanese child and played while wandering the forest in Kyoto, but Fairy Prince Corn was his and Kyoko’s secret.  “She’s partial to blue stones.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been forever and I'm so so so so sorry. This latest arc is really killing me. Don't get me wrong, I love the acting stuff, but I feel like there are pages of each chapter that are just... ARGH! And the frustration is killing my Skip Beat motivation, so I had to step away. It's a little better now that Ren is back in Tokyo and (hopefully) the last bit of the audition is underway. It definitely didn't feel like there were as many pages of circling plot as in the last few chapters, but at the same time it was so much shorter at only 25 pages. *weeps*
> 
> I need to cuddle Ren and Kyoko. 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter has a few of my favorite scenes! I hope you like them. And keep me honest and poke me to post if I go too long again! :)

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a very long time (and a couple fandoms) since I posted a Work In Progress, but I thought that I'd give it a try. I'm about 7/8th of the way through writing it, so I'll be done before I catch up on posting chapters. This has been a very persistent bunny and has even spawned a few side stories about how things got to the point they were where the story begins. I hope people like it. *fingers crossed*


End file.
